ARNOLD'S  EXPEDITION 
TO  QUEBEC 


This  edition  is  limited  to  two  hundred  and  forty-five  copies,  of  which 
this  is  No JL.JL 

Twenty  five  copies  on  specially  made  paper,  of  which  this  is  No.... 


ARNOLD'S  EXPEDITION 
TO  QUEBEC 


BY 

JOHN  CODMAN,  2ND 


SPECIAL  EDITION 
WITH  ADDED  MATTER  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS 


EDITED    BY 

WILLIAM    ABBATT 


PUBLISHED  FOR 

WILLIAM   ABBATT 

281  FOURTH  AVENUE,  NEW  YORK 

BY 

THE    MACMILLAN    COMPANY 

LONDON:  MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  LTD. 
1903 

All  rights  reserved 


<- 


COPYRIGHT,  1901 
BY  THE   MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

COPYRIGHT,  1903 
BY  WILLIAM  ABBATT 


Set  up  and  printed  November,  1903 


PRESS  OF 

M  ERA  PRINTINQ  COMPANT 
LANCASTER,   PA. 


Co  t&e  ^ftemorp  of 

MY   GREAT-GREAT  GRANDFATHER 

JEREMIAH   WHEELWRIGHT 

AND    HIS  FELLOW  SOLDIERS 

I   DEDICATE  THIS   HISTORY 

IN  WHICH  ARK  RECORDED 

THEIE  SUFFERINGS,  FORTITUDE  AND  PATRIOTISM  AS  THEY  PASSED  THROUGH 

FAMINE,  BATTLE   AND   PESTILENCE,  OR  PERISHED  FOR  THE 

SACRED   CAUSE  OF  LIBERTY   AND   THE 

INDEPENDENCE  OF  THE   UNITED  COLONIES 


395381 


PREFATORY  NOTE 

THE  author  of  this  volume  died  August  31,  1897, 
at  the  age  of  thirty-four,  leaving  practically  com 
pleted  the  work  on  which  he  had  spent  the  last 
years  of  his  life.  It  lacked,  however,  the  benefit 
of  his  final  revision  for  the  press.  Mr.  Codman's 
family  and  friends  are  greatly  indebted  to  Mr. 
M.  A.  DeWolfe  Howe  for  advice  and  assistance  in 
bringing  the  book  to  publication;  and  to  Mr. 
Henry  S.  Chapman  for  the  actual  revision  and 
verification  of  the  manuscript.  In  all  the  necessary 
abridgment  and  rearrangement  Mr.  Chapman  has 
made  a  minimum  of  changes  in  the  author's 
original  narrative. 

E.  A.  C. 

July,  1901. 


A  WORD  OF  TRIBUTE 

Two  years  have  elapsed  since  the  publication  of 
Mr.  Codman's  picturesque  narrative  of  Arnold's  Ex 
pedition  to  Quebec.  The  confident  expectation  of  his 
friends  has  been  realized  by  a  demand  that,  having  re 
quired  two  editions,  now  justifies  the  presentation  of 
a  third,  in  a  new  and  more  attractive  form.  Popular 
interest  so  cordially  exhibited  in  the  work  itself  en 
courages  a  belief  that  those  who  have  seen  something 
of  the  author  revealed  in  his  printed  pages,  may  wish 
to  learn  more  of  him  who  has  so  admirably  told  the 
story  of  brave  men,  and  of  extraordinary  suffering 
borne  with  unfaltering  fortitude. 

He  who  himself  possesses  courage  can  best  tell  of 
deeds  of  daring ;  he  who  has  endured  hardship  and  dis 
appointment  without  complaint  and  undismayed  by 
difficulties  wrought  out  to  a  conclusion  the  work  he  has 
undertaken,  is  best  fitted  to  justly  record  the  heroism 
of  the  leaders  of  a  forlorn  hope.  Though  never  called 
to  the  ultimate  test  of  manhood  by  any  service  like  that 
of  which  he  wrote,  none  who  knew  Mr.  Codman  have 
doubt  that  he  would  have  borne  himself  under  such 
trials,  as  he  bore  himself  always  in  life,  fearlessly  up 
right,  with  high  courage  following  the  path  of  his  duty, 
whatever  danger  or  obstacle  might  lie  before  him.  He 
had  a  singular  and  uncompromising  love  of  justice,  bit 
ter  scorn  of  all  meanness.  He  was  quick  to  defend  any- 


x  A   WORD    OF    TRIBUTE 

one  accused  without  reason,  inclined  instinctively  to  lend 
his  aid  to  the  weaker  party  in  any  controversy.  These 
characteristics  naturally  and  logically  led  him  to  the 
close  and  discriminating  study  of  the  melancholy  story 
of  Arnold,  and  he  was  true  to  his  nature  when  he  chose 
that  episode  which  reveals  Arnold  as  the  patriot  sol 
dier,  and  the  devoted  and  resourceful  leader  of  a  des 
perate  enterprise  against  the  enemies  of  his  country. 
And  so  he  pleads  for  a  mitigation  of  the  severe  judg 
ment  that  Arnold's  later  treason  well  merited.  Another 
reason  also  moved  the  author  to  the  choice  of  the  sub 
ject  of  this,  his  only  elaborate  literary  effort:  this 
story  of  the  stern  wilderness  excited  him  to  a  real  en 
thusiasm  in  his  work.  He  had  an  almost  religious  love 
of  Nature,  and  she  most  inspired  and  most  appealed  to 
him  in  her  wilder  moods.  Like  Thoreau,  he  loved  the 
exhilaration  of  the  storm  winds  rushing  over  the  deso 
late  sands  of  Cape  Cod;  he  found  keenest  enjoyment 
in  forcing  his  way  against  the  currents  of  the  rivers 
that  break  through  the  endless  forests  of  Maine;  he 
loved  the  hazard  of  new  adventures,  and  he  wished  to 
know  and  feel  something  of  the  hardship  of  which  he 
told,  and  so  he  traversed  the  line  of  Arnold's  marches 
and  voyages,  camping  where  he  had  camped,  carrying 
his  canoe  over  the  portages  where  he  had  passed,  con 
tending  with  the  resistless  force  of  the  torrents  that  he 
had  tried.  He  covered  foot  by  foot  the  entire  journey 
of  the  expedition  from  the  settlements  by  the  Kennebec 
to  the  shores  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  from  which  he  looked 
across  to  the  fortress  of  Quebec.  Nor  did  he  make 
trial  of  the  woods  only  in  the  inviting  summer  time. 


A   WORD    OF    TRIBUTE  xi 

When  the  frosts  had  stripped  the  trees  of  their  leaves 
and  the  cold  autumn  winds  swept  through  the  valleys 
and  chilled  the  waters  of  river  and  lake,  he  made  his 
lonely  camps  by  the  Dead  Eiver,  and  the  Chaudiere, 
and  knew  no  society  save  that  of  the  taciturn  guides 
who  were  no  hardier  woodmen  than  he. 

After  returning  from  his  latest  journey  over  the 
Arnold  trail,  an  illness  of  an  alarming  nature,  due,  it 
is  feared,  in  some  part  to  the  exposure  he  had  under 
gone,  seriously  impaired  his  strength  and  restricted 
every  physical  activity.  Deprived  of  the  invigoration 
of  an  outdoor  life  on  which  he  so  much  depended,  pre 
cluded  from  giving  attention  to  his  business  in  which 
he  was  absorbed  and  where  he  had  attained  unusual 
success,  he  was  forced  to  yield  to  an  invalidism  from 
which  he  never  recovered.  Under  the  depressing  con 
ditions  attendant  upon  a  painful  illness,  he  steadfastly 
worked  upon  his  manuscript,  examined  with  exacting 
scrutiny  all  sources  of  historic  information,  and  col 
lected  many  rare  and  valuable  portraits  and  plates  to 
embellish  his  text.  No  trace  of  the  suffering  that  ac 
companied  his  labor  can  be  detected  in  his  pages.  The 
story  moves  onward  with  all  the  energy  of  fullest  phys 
ical  vigor,  and  no  reader  would  suspect  that  the  inci 
dents  he  tells  of,  breathing  the  indomitable  spirit  of 
strong  men,  and  reproducing  the  very  atmosphere  of 
stream  and  forest,  were  dictated  in  the  seclusion  of  a 
sick-room.  In  spite  of  increasing  weakness,  his  pen 
was  not  laid  aside  until  the  work  he  had  assigned  to 
himself  was  completed,  and  it  went  to  the  press  instinct 


xii  A   WORD    OF    TRIBUTE 

with  the  courage  and  energy  which  characterized  his 
life. 

His  style  is  graphic,  direct  and  virile.  His  editors 
have  found  no  occasion  to  appeal  to  the  charitable  con 
sideration  of  critics  because  of  the  trying  conditions 
under  which  he  wrote,  nor  to  change  in  any  respect  his 
forms  of  expression.  Historians  have  generously  com 
mended  his  diligence,  as  well  as  his  discriminating  his 
torical  judgment.  The  inferences  he  has  drawn  from 
his  ascertained  facts  are  those  of  a  just  and  impartial 
investigator.  He  has  indulged  himself  in  no  effort  at 
fine  writing,  but  in  graphic,  plain  and  direct  speech  he 
has  told  a  story  of  desperate  and  determined  human 
endeavor  as  only  one  could  tell  it  who  has  borne  him 
self  with  fortitude  in  adversity,  has  abandoned  nothing 
of  a  high  purpose  though  knowing  that  an  implacable 
fate  forbade  his  realizing  its  full  achievement. 

We  who  watched  the  calm  courage  of  his  conflict 
with  illness  are  more  moved  by  admiration  at  his  forti 
tude  than  compassion  for  the  physical  suffering  which 
he  held  always  in  subjection  to  his  unconquerable 
spirit,  and  he  lives  in  the  memory  of  all  who  so  knew 
him  not  in  the  fading  light  of  a  finished  life,  but  rather 
as  passing,  in  the  full  vigor  of  his  strong  manhood,  to 
some  new  field  of  higher  achievement. 

HERBERT  PARKER. 

BOSTON,  July,  1903. 


CONTENTS 

PACK 

BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH  OP  MR.  CODMAN 1X 

(By  Hon.  Herbert  Parker,  Atty.  Gen'l  of  Massachusetts.) 

INTRODUCTION 

CHAPTEE  I 
The  Invasion  of  Canada  is  Planned 5 

CHAPTEE  II 
Benedict  Arnold      ...•••••••• 

CHAPTER  III 
The  Expedition  Sets  Forth  , 29 

CHAPTEE   IV 
The  Ascent  of  the  Kennebec 40 

CHAPTEE  V 
The  March  into  the  Wilderness 59 

CHAPTEE  VI 
Flood  —  Famine  —  Desertion 69 

CHAPTEE  VII 
Across  the  "  Terrible  Carry  " 92 

CHAPTEE  VIII 
Arnold  Saves  the  Eemnant  of  His  Army 113 

CHAPTEE  IX 

Descending  the  Chaudiere I2' 

CHAPTEE  X 
Before  Quebec 149 


xiv  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  XI 

PAGE 

Montgomery  Joins  Arnold       .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .168 

CHAPTER  XII 
The  Investment 191 

CHAPTER  XIII                                      * 
The  Assault  is  Planned 203 

CHAPTER   XIV 
The  Assault  on  Quebec 218 

CHAPTER  XV 
The  Death  of  Montgomery 236 

CHAPTER  XVI 
The  Americans  Stand  Their  Ground 258 

CHAPTER  XVII 
Prisoners  of  War     ...» 271 

CHAPTER  XVIII 
A  Hopeless  Siege 289 

CHAPTER  XIX 
The  Campaign  Fails 307 

APPENDIX   A 
A  Bibliographical  List  of  Contemporary  Journals   .....  321 

APPENDIX   B 
Subsequent  Careers  of  Members  of  the  Expedition 331 

APPENDIX  C 
Relics  of  the  Expedition 339 

APPENDIX   D 
A  Defence  of  Col.  Enos    (By  Rev.  H.  E.  Hayden.)         .         .         .         .344 

APPENDIX   E 

Added  Matter          .         .         (By  the  Editor.) 364 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Facing  page 
PORTRAIT  OP  THE  AUTHOR    .......      Frontispiece 

Colonel  Benedict  Arnold          .........     14 

Captain  Christian  Febiger* 35 

Tablet  at  Newburyport  * 40 

All  That  Remains  of  Fort  Halifax 50 

A  View  of  Mt.  Bigelow 70 

Lieut.  Col.  Christopher  Greene  *  .         .         .        •        .         •         .82 

Captain  Eleazar  Oswald* 96 

Dr.  Isaac  Senter  *  * 109 

The  Falls  of  Sault  on  the  ChaudiSre 115 

The  Chaudiere  at  Sartigan  * 125 

Lieut.  Col.  Eeturn  J.  Meigs  * 136 

Captain  Daniel  Morgan 150 

Captain  Samuel  Ward  * 170 

General  Richard  Montgomery 186 

The  General  Hospital 192 

Captain  John  Lamb* 199 

Sault  au  Matelot  Street* 216 

St.  Louis  Gate 227 

Rev.  Samuel  Spring** 230 

Tablet  at  Cape  Diamond* 234 

Captain  John  Macpherson  * 238 

Lieut.  William  Heth** 246 

House  (still  standing)  to  which  Montgomery's  Body  was  Taken*   .         .  260 
Tablet  at  the  Military  Storehouse  *  * 262 

(XV) 


xvi  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

John  Joseph  Henry  *  * 319 

Captain  Henry  Dearborn          .........  333 

Captain  Edward  Antill** 337 

Lieut.  Col.  Roger  Enos 350 

MAPS 

Arnold's  Koute  of  March  to  Quebec 60 

Quebec  and  Its  Environs 160 


Those  marked  *  do  not  appear  in  the  former  editions,  nor  those  marked  **, 
which  were  made  expressely  for  this  edition. 


ARNOLD'S  EXPEDITION  TO  QUEBEC 


INTRODUCTION 


HERE  are  several  reasons  why  the  Quebec 
expedition  has  never  been  given  the  place 
in  history  which  it  deserves.  The  rank 
and  file  who  returned  to  tell  the  tale  were 
few  in  number,  weak  in  influence  and 
widely  scattered.  Many  of  them  reenlisted  and  per 
ished  during  the  war.  Most  of  the  surviving  officers 
gained  a  wider  reputation  by  brilliant  exploits  in  more 
conspicuous  fields,  and  continued  to  live  the  active 
lives  which  make  history  but  afford  little  time  to 
write  it.  Moreover,  this  was  one  of  the  first  military 
movements  of  importance  in  the  war,  and  records  at 
that  time  were  not  preserved  with  much  care,  so  that 
a  great  deal  of  valuable  information  has  only  recently 
become  accessible,  while  perhaps  still  more  has  been 
destroyed  or  lost  forever.  The  young  nation  was  not 
likely  to  dwell  with  pride  on  the  failure  of  the  inva 
sion  of  Canada,  and  gladly  allowed  everything  con 
nected  with  it  to  fall  into  oblivion.  Doubtless,  also, 
a  campaign  which  was  so  closely  associated  with  the 
name  of  the  traitor  Arnold,  the  truthful  account  of 
which  could  not  fail  to  reflect  credit  on  that  evil 
genius,  was  willingly  slighted. 

2  (1) 


2  ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION   TO    QUEBEC 

The  author  had  one  advantage  over  other  writers 
who  have  touched  on  this  campaign,  in  that  he  fol 
lowed,  on  foot  or  in  canoes,  for  the  greater  part  of 
the  distance,  the  army's  course  through  the  Kenne- 
bec,  Dead  Eiver  and  Chaudiere  regions,  and  visited 
Quebec  and  its  environs;  and  in  like  manner  traced 
the  route  of  Montgomery,  with  whose  force  Arnold 
was  cooperating,  over  Lake  George,  Lake  Champlain 
and  the  Richelieu  River  to  Montreal.  In  examining 
the  illustrations  made  from  the  author's  photographs, 
it  is  desirable  to  remember  that  at  the  time  when 
they  were  taken,  in  October,  1895,  or  September, 
1896,  the  water  in  the  Dead  River  and  the  Chaudiere 
was  very  low.  Many  of  the  falls  have  also  been  ren 
dered  much  less  difficult  of  approach  and  passage  by 
the  blastings  of  the  lumbermen,  in  order  to  make  a 
freer  passage  for  their  logs,  for  the  greater  part  of 
the  country  has  been  logged  over,  and  most  of  the 
big  timber  cut  out. 

The  list  of  Journals  to  be  found  in  the  Appendix 
indicates  the  chief  sources  from  which  the  history  of 
the  expedition  has  been  drawn.  The  most  valuable 
American  journals  in  the  list  are  those  of  Henry, 
Arnold,  Senter  and  Thayer;  of  the  English,  those  of 
Fraser,  Ainslie,  and  the  journal  by  an  unknown 
author,  printed  in  1880  by  the  New  York  Historical 
Society;  the  best  French  journals  are  those  of  San- 
guinet  and  Badeaux.  Thayer 's  Journal,  edited  by  E. 
M.  Stone,  was  published  many  years  ago  in  the  Col 
lections  of  the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society.  Mr. 
Stone  introduces  it  with  a  brief  history  of  the  inva- 


INTRODUCTION  3 

sion  of  Canada,  and  adds  an  appendix  which  con 
tains  valuable  notes  on  the  journal  and  biographical 
sketches  of  some  of  the  principal  officers  of  Arnold's 
and  Montgomery's  forces. 

Most  of  these  journals  are  brief  and  in  the  form 
of  diaries.  No  one  of  them  gives  a  comprehensive 
view  of  the  campaign,  or  of  the  movements  and  ad 
ventures  of  more  than  one  division  of  the  expedition 
ary  force  from  the  date  of  leaving  Cambridge  to  the 
arrival  before  Quebec.  Some  of  them  are  little  more 
than  fragments  of  personal  history  which  have  drifted 
about,  privately  printed  or  in  manuscript,  for  one 
hundred  years  or  more,  and  have  rarely  come  into 
public  or  private  notice. 

The  author's  effort  has  been  by  comparison  and 
combination  of  such  original  sources  to  reconcile  or 
correct  the  conflicting  statements  of  English,  Canadian 
and  American  historians,  and  to  produce  a  narrative 
of  popular  interest,  which  shall  aim  as  well  at  ac 
curacy  and  impartiality  of  statement  and  deduction. 
This  method  of  work  has  proved  the  essential  veracity 
of  these  diarists  and  journalists,  and  at  the  same 
time  the  superficial,  careless  and  unfair  treatment 
which  the  history  of  this  expedition  has  received  at 
the  hands  of  many  historians.  The  author  has  quoted 
freely  from  both  diaries  and  journals— not  hesitating, 
where  their  language  seemed  peculiarly  graphic  and 
strong,  to  embody  an  occasional  phrase  in  the  text 
without  quotation  marks,  in  order  not  to  lose  any 
of  the  force  of  the  words  by  reconstruction,  or  tax 
the  reader's  patience  by  constant  changes  from  direct 


4  ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION   TO    QUEBEC 

to  indirect  discourse,   or  rude   transitions   from   one 
tense  to  another. 

Other  valuable  material  has  been  found  among 
Force's  Archives,  the  Canadian  Archives,  including 
the  Haldimand  Papers,  the  Massachusetts  and  Penn 
sylvania  Archives,  and  in  the  collection  of  Manuscripts 
of  Jared  Sparks  in  the  Harvard  University  Library. 
There,  and  in  the  collections  of  the  Maine  Historical 
Society,  and  Washington's  writings  and  correspond 
ence,  may  be  found  almost  all  the  letters  of  Arnold, 
Montgomery,  Washington,  Reed  and  Schuyler,  from 
which  quotations  have  been  made. 

The  author's  thanks  are  due  to  Messrs.  Christian 
C.  Febiger  of  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania;  H.  Meigs 
Whaples  of  Hartford,  Connecticut;  Parker  M.  Reed 
of  Bath,  Maine;  George  A.  Porterfield  of  Charles- 
town,  West  Virginia;  Edward  A.  Greene  of  Provi 
dence  and  James  G.  Topham  of  Newport,  Rhode 
Island,  grandchildren  or  great-grandchildren  of  officers 
of  the  expedition,  for  the  readiness  with  which  they 
have  put  themselves  at  his  service,  and  the  access 
they  have  accorded  to  manuscripts  or  portraits  in 
their  possession. 


CHAPTER   I 
THE  INVASION  OF  CANADA  IS  PLANNED 


HEN  Benedict  Arnold,  turned  traitor  in 
the  last  years  of  the  War  of  Indepen 
dence,  was  leading  the  forces  of  the  King 
against  his  former  compatriots  in  Vir 
ginia,  it  is  reported  that  among  his  pris 
oners  was  a  certain  plucky  and  witty  officer,  who,  in 
answer  to  Arnold 's  question, ' l  What  will  the  Americans 
do  with  me  if  they  catch  me  ? ' '  replied,  ' '  They  will  cut 
off  the  leg  which  was  wounded  when  you  were  fighting 
so  gloriously  for  the  cause  of  liberty,  and  bury  it  with 
the  honors  of  war,  and  hang  the  rest  of  your  body  on  a 
gibbet!" 

The  answer  gave  fit  expression  to  the  detestation 
with  which  all  steadfast  patriots  regarded  the  man 
who  had  done  his  best  to  betray  their  cause,  but  it 
also  hints  at  the  earlier  fame  which  Arnold  once  de 
served  and  enjoyed.  The  Arnold  of  Ticonderoga  and 
Quebec,  whose  name  was  a  synonym  for  bravery, 
determination  and  patriotic  fervor,  is  not  often  re 
membered  now.  His  good  deeds  are  forever  obscured 
by  the  shadow  of  his  great  crime.  But  it  will  help 
us  to  do  full  justice  to  that  strange  and  unfortunate 
man,  if  we  follow  again  the  story  of  the  gallant  but 
ill-fated  expedition  which  he  led  through  the  wilder 
ness  of  Maine  and  Canada,  and  against  the  icy  ram- 

(5) 


6  ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION   TO    QUEBEC 

parts  of  impregnable  Quebec.  And  while  we  do  so 
let  us  not  forget  that  had  he  fallen  as  did  Mont 
gomery  before  the  citadel,  his  whole  body,  and  not  his 
shattered  leg  only,  would  have  been  entitled  to  burial 
with  the  most  glorious  honors  of  war.  He  would 
have  been  counted  one  of  the  noblest  martyrs  of  the 
cause  of  liberty,  not  its  despised  and  execrated  Judas. 

The  invasion  of  Canada  was  one  of  the  very  ear 
liest  strategic  moves  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution. 
From  the  inception  of  the  struggle  with  the  mother 
country,  the  colonists  appreciated  to  the  full  the  mil 
itary  and  political  advantages  to  be  gained  by  en 
listing  the  Canadians  in  its  support.  These  advan 
tages,  indeed,  were  so  numerous  and  so  obvious  that 
it  required  neither  breadth  of  statemanship  nor  ex 
perience  in  military  affairs  to  recognize  them  at  once. 
The  acquisition  of  Canada  would  unite  the  whole  of 
British  America  in  opposition  to  the  Crown,  and 
strengthen  the  United  Colonies  by  the  possession  of 
a  wide  stretch  of  territory,  in  which  were  situated  two 
of  the  principal  cities  of  the  continent,  one  of  them  a 
natural  fortress  of  great  strategic  importance,  sup 
plied  with  all  those  munitions  of  war  of  which  the 
rebels  stood  in  the  sorest  need.  An  unbroken  front 
would  thus  be  presented  to  invasion  from  England, 
and  New  England  and  New  York  would  not  be  ex 
posed  to  the  menace  of  an  army  allied  with  the 
savage  Indian  tribes,  operating  in  their  rear  with 
Canada  as  a  base,  and  outflanking  them  on  Lake 
Champlain,  Lake  George,  and  the  Hudson  River. 

The  first  resort  of  the  rebellious  colonies  was,  of 


THE  INVASION  OF  CANADA  PLANNED    7 

course,  to  negotiation,  and  their  earliest  efforts  in 
this  direction  met  with  sufficient  encouragement  to 
afford  them  good  hopes  for  the  ultimate  attachment 
of  Canada  to  the  confederation  by  peaceful  means 
alone.  Before  the  capture  of  Ticonderoga,  before  the 
battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  even  before  the  battle  of  Lex 
ington,  Canada  had  been  invited  to  send  delegates  to 
the  Provincial  Congress.  The  reply  of  some  of  the 
principal  merchants  of  Montreal,  to  whom  the  invi 
tation  was  directed,  shows  that  there  was  at  this 
time  considerable  popular  sympathy  in  that  province 
with  the  cause  of  liberty,  albeit  it  was  a  sympathy 
which  prudently  hesitated  to  declare  itself  in  public. 
Under  date  of  April  28,  1775,  they  wrote: 

We  deeply  feel  the  Sorrows  and  Afflictions  of  our  suf 
fering  Brothers;  &  sincerely  wish  it  was  in  our  Power  to 
afford  you  effectual  Relief;  but  alas  we  are  more  the  Objects 
of  pity  and  Compassion,  than  yourselves,  who  are  now  suffer 
ing  under  the  heavy  hand  of  Power;  deprived,  as  we  are,  of 
the  common  right  of  the  miserable,  to  complain. 

You  have  Numbers,  Strength,  &  a  common  Cause  to 
Support  you  in  your  Opposition:  we  are  still  more  divided 
here,  by  our  Interests,  than  by  our  Religion,  Language  and 
Manners.  The  Apprehension  of  Evils  to  come  upon  us,  in 
a  short  time,  from  the  unlimited  power  of  the  Governour 
strikes  all  Opposition  dead:  indeed,  few  in  this  Colony  dare 
vent  their  Griefs:  but  groan  in  Silence,  &  dream  of  Lettres 
de  Cachet,  Confiscations,  and  Imprisonments,  offering  up  their 
fervent  Prayers  to  the  Throne  of  Grace,  to  prosper  your 
righteous  cause,  which  alone  will  free  us  from  these  jealous 
Fears  and  Apprehensions  that  rob  us  of  our  Peace.  .  .  . 


8  ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

You  will  please  to  bear  in  Mind,  that  not  only  those  who 
hold  the  Helm  of  Government,  but  also,  all  those  who  make 
Wealth  or  Ambition  the  chief  Objects  of  their  Pursuit  are 
professedly  your  Enemies ;  &  would  be  glad  to  reduce  you  to 
the  same  Abject  State,  with  themselves:  nevertheless,  the 
~bulk  of  the  People,  both  English  and  Canadians,  are  of  quite 
contrary  Sentiments;  and  wish  well  to  your  Cause;  but  dare 
not  stir  a  finger  to  help  you;  being  of  no  more  estimation  in 
the  political  Machine,  than  the  Sailors  are,  in  shaping  the 
Course,  or  working  the  ships  in  which  they  sail.  They 
may  mutter  and  swear,  but  must  obey;  however,  should 
Government  handle  them  too  roughly,  &  arbitrarily  attempt 
to  enforce  them  upon  dangerous  &  disagreeable  Service,  to 
which  they  have  already  shown  an  irreconcileable  Aversion, 
they  may,  perhaps,  dearly  repent  it. 

Somewhat  later,  the  Whigs  of  Montreal  did,  in  fact, 
gather  enough  courage  to  send  James  Price,  one  of  the 
signers  of  this  letter,  to  represent  them  in  the  Conti 
nental  Congress,  though  in  a  secret  and  unauthoritative 
capacity.  Price,  with  Thomas  Walker  and  James  Liv 
ingston,  all  wealthy  and  influential  citizens  of  Mon 
treal,  were  as  zealous  for  the  cause  of  the  colonies,  and 
as  open  and  arrant  rebels  as  Samuel  Adams  or  Patrick 
Henry.  The  Quebec  Act  had  been  hardly  better  re 
ceived  in  Canada  than  the  Stamp  Act  in  the  southern 
colonies,  and  there  were  Committees  of  Correspon 
dence  and  Safety  in  Montreal,  and  trustworthy  private 
correspondents  at  Quebec.  That  very  spring,  on  the 
first  of  May,  people  had  insulted  his  Majesty  by  daub 
ing  his  bust  in  the  public  square  of  Montreal  with 
black  paint  and  hanging  a  string  of  rotten  potatoes 


THE  INVASION  OF  CANADA  PLANNED    9 

round  the  neck  above  this  inscription:  "Voila  le  Pape 
du  Canada  et  le  sot  Anglais."  Indeed,  it  is  not  im 
probable  that  but  for  the  impolitic  document  addressed 
by  Congress  to  the  people  of  Great  Britain,  in  Septem 
ber,  1774,  inveighing  in  unmeasured  terms  against 
the  French  Jurisprudence  and  Koman  Catholicism, 
Canada  might  also  have  cast  her  vote  for  independence. 

The  ancient  French  noblesse  were,  for  the  most 
part,  office-holders  under  government  and  devoted  to 
its  interests,  but  they  had  dwindled  in  numbers,  means 
and  influence,  and  were  neither  to  be  courted  nor  feared. 

The  habitants,  or  French  farmers,  who  made  up  the 
bulk  of  the  population,  were  certainly  not  enthusiastic 
in  their  loyalty  to  the  English  sovereignty  under  which 
they  had  not  yet  lived  a  score  of  years,  and  though 
they  could  hardly  be  relied  upon  for  active  aid,  might 
at  least  have  given  passive  countenance  to  the  plans 
of  the  revolutionary  leaders,  if  their  religion  had  been 
treated  with  respect  and  their  priesthood  with  tact 
and  wisdom.  This  phase  of  the  situation  was,  unfor 
tunately,  not  correctly  understood  at  Philadelphia  until 
it  was  too  late.  The  step  already  referred  to,  which 
alienated  many  of  the  Roman  Catholic  clergy  and  their 
flocks  from  the  revolutionary  cause,  was  taken  before 
its  probable  effect  upon  this  preponderating  element 
of  the  Canadian  population  was  appreciated. 

But  though  the  Continental  Congress  found  much 
encouragement  in  the  temper  of  the  northern  provinces, 
as  it  was  reported  by  its  correspondents  in  Montreal 
and  Quebec,  it  soon  become  evident  that  the  active 

3 


10          ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

spirits  were  too  few,  and  the  mass  of  the  people  too 
inert,  to  give  any  hope  for  a  spontaneous  uprising  in 
behalf  of  the  cause  of  independence.  The  bolder 
patriots  at  once  turned  to  the  other  alternative,  an 
invasion  of  Canada  by  the  colonial  troops,  who, 
through  the  aid  of  the  rebel  sympathizers  and  the 
indifference  of  the  rest  of  the  population,  were  ex 
pected  to  expel  the  British  troops  from  Montreal  and 
Quebec,  and  attach  the  province  to  the  confederation. 

The  leading  revolutionists  correctly  understood  the 
urgency  of  the  crisis,  for  they  were  perfectly  ac 
quainted  with  the  zeal  and  military  talents  of  General 
Guy  Carleton,  the  governor  of  the  province.  He  was 
exerting  himself  actively  to  organize  the  Canadians, 
and  to  supply  them  with  arms  and  ammunition  re 
cently  shipped  from  England,  and  though  the  habitants 
resolutely  refused  to  enroll  themselves,  it  was  easily 
imagined  that  as  soon  as  the  Governor's  authority 
was  reinforced  by  the  arrival  of  a  large  body  of 
troops  from  England,  the  Canadians  would  be  obliged 
to  yield,  and  feeling  more  certain  of  the  issue  of  the 
contest,  would  try  to  secure  immunity  for  themselves 
by  becoming  active  in  fastening  burdens  on  the  backs 
of  their  southern  neighbors.  The  blow  must  be  struck 
at  once,  then,  if  it  was  to  be  struck  at  all.  The 
capture  of  Ticonderoga  and  Crown  Point  by  the  New 
England  troops  under  Ethan  Allen  opened  the  way 
for  an  expedition  to  be  despatched  by  way  of  Lake 
George  and  Lake  Champlain  to  the  St.  Lawrence, 
and  Congress  in  the  summer  of  1775  authorized  such 
an  undertaking.  The  invading  force  was  to  be  com 
posed  of  militia  raised  in  New  England  and  New 


THE  INVASION  OF  CANADA  PLANNED   11 

York,  and  Major-General  Philip  Schuyler  of  the 
latter  colony  was  appointed  to  its  command.  This 
gentleman  was  a  veteran  of  the  French  War  and 
combined  with  wealth  and  position,  military  talents, 
trustworthiness  and  unquestioned  zeal  for  the  cause. 
But  he  was  well  advanced  in  years  and  was  perhaps 
over-cautious  for  a  campaign  which  so  urgently  de 
manded  activity  and  energy. 

General  Schuyler,  having  mobilized  at  Albany,  was 
hurried  forward  early  in  July  with  an  army  fluctuat 
ing  from  five  hundred  to  fifteen  hundred  men  up 
Lakes  George  and  Champlain  to  Ticonderoga.  From 
that  fortress  as  a  base  he  was  expected  to  begin  the 
expulsion  of  the  British  from  Canada  by  taking 
Chambly  on  the  St.  John's  Eiver,  and  then  St.  John's 
and  Montreal.  But  before  he  had  an  opportunity  to 
meet  the  enemy  in  force,  he  was  compelled  by  illness, 
about  September  14,  to  resign  the  command  to  Brig 
adier-General  Richard  Montgomery. 

Meanwhile  General  Washington,  who  had  recently 
taken  command  of  the  colonial  troops  besieging  Bos 
ton,  had  communicated  to  Congress,  with  his  approval, 
a  project  for  the  support  of  Schuyler 's  movement  by 
another  expedition,  to  be  sent  against  Canada,  as  it 
were,  from  the  rear.  While  General  Carleton  was 
engaged  with  an  active  enemy  in  his  front,  this 
second  army  was  to  attempt  by  rapid  marches  to 
surprise  and  capture  Quebec,  which  would  no  doubt 
be  but  slenderly  garrisoned,  and  if  it  failed  in  this, 
it  would  at  least  be  able  to  join  forces  with  the  Lake 
Champlain  expedition  and  give  valuable  assistance  in 


12          ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

the  reduction  of  the  all-important  fortress.  Whether 
General  Washington  himself  first  conceived  this  plan, 
or  whether  it  was  suggested  to  him  by  the  officer 
whom  he  selected  to  carry  it  out,  does  not  clearly 
appear.  Perhaps  the  truth  lies  between.  At  all 
events  Washington  warmly  pressed  the  scheme  upon 
the  attention  of  Congress,  and  secured  its  assent  with 
no  apparent  difficulty.  The  expedition  thus  resolved 
upon,  Washington  chose  Benedict  Arnold  as  its  com 
mander,  and  Congress  promptly  voted  him  a  colonel's 
commission  in  the  Continental  service. 


CHAPTEE   II 
BENEDICT  AKNOLD 


HE  young  officer  entrusted  with  this  re 
sponsible  command  was  born  at  Norwich, 
Connecticut,  January  14,  1741.  He  came 
of  good  stock,  being  a  great-grandson  of 
Benedict  Arnold,  the  second  governor  of 
the  colony  of  Rhode  Island.  His  father,  Benedict 
Arnold,  had  come  to  Norwich  from  Newport,  Ehode 
Island,  about  1730,  as  a  seaman  aboard  the  vessel  of 
Captain  Absalom  King,  whose  young  widow  he  married 
in  1733.  During  Benedict  junior's  early  youth,  his 
father  did  a  good  business  with  the  West  Indies,  own 
ing  parts  or  the  whole  of  vessels,  which  he  sometimes 
sailed  himself,  so  that  he  came  to  be  called  "Captain 
Arnold. ' '  Though  his  old  age  seems  to  have  been  one  of 
poverty,  intemperance  and  little  respect,  yet,  judging 
from  the  positions  of  trust  which  he  is  known  to  have 
held,  he  must  for  many  years  have  had  the  confi 
dence  of  the  community  in  which  he  lived.  His  wife 
died  when  the  young  Benedict  was  seventeen  years 
old,  and  the  Captain  himself  died  three  years  later. 
Their  son,  then,  was  left  an  orphan  before  he  reached 
his  majority.  Beyond  doubt  this  was  a  misfortune, 
for  we  know  that  his  mother,  at  least,  was  his  pious 
counselor  and  guide. 

Arnold  had  opportunities  to  receive,  it  would  ap- 

(13) 


14          ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

pear,  such  education  as  the  best  schools  of  Norwich 
or  its  neighborhood  afforded — that  is  to  say,  a  very 
good  one;  but  judging  by  the  caricatures  with  which 
he  covered  his  spelling-book,  and  what  little  has  come 
down  to  us  of  his  youthful  habits  and  inclinations,  he 
was  no  student,  and  did  not  get  much  farther  towards 
a  liberal  education  in  the  arts  than  to  write  his  name 
in  a  copy  of  Cornelius  Nepos. 

Of  his  character  as  a  boy,  we  have  only  meager 
and  secondary  accounts.  Rather  than  repeat,  there 
fore,  the  stories  of  his  childhood  and  youth,  which 
are  too  often  colored  by  prejudice  and  hatred,  it  is 
better  to  let  the  reader  form  his  estimate  of  Arnold's 
character  and  motives  chiefly  from  his  authentic  writ 
ings  and  undisputed  acts.  It  seems  just,  however,  to 
record  that  in  letters  written  to  Jared  Sparks  by  cit 
izens  of  Norwich  and  New  Haven  in  1834,  when  few 
who  knew  Arnold  as  a  boy  were  living,  and  those  at 
a  great  age,  we  find  him  referred  to  as  "an  uncom 
monly  active,  prompt,  saucy,  roguish  and  impetuous 
lad,"  "showy  and  ostentatious,"  "possessing  a  mind 
naturally  strong,  and  certainly  singular,"  "rash,  head 
strong  and  regardless  alike  of  friends  and  foes." 

As  a  youngster,  Arnold  ran  away  to  serve  in  the 
French  War  of  1756,  but  was  promptly  returned  at 
the  request  of  his  parents.  It  is  said,  though  the 
truth  of  the  statement  is  open  to  question,  that  he 
made  a  second  attempt,  and  succeeded  in  passing 
some  dreary  months  of  inactivity  in  barracks  at 
Ticonderoga.  This  was  so  little  to  his  taste  that  he 
deserted  and  returned  home,  where  he  was  kindly 


°/& 


COLONEL  ARNOLD. 

t/te  Provincial  Troops  Jmt cyoirut QuTJttC.^roiu7n  ttfePPiuvrn 
n  Jtor*mw<jt/iat  Gttf,urule 

</  «/ 


BENEDICT   ARNOLD  15 

secreted  from  the  King's  officers  by  his  fellow- towns 
men.    He  was  then  only  about  sixteen  years  of  age. 

Arnold's  mother's  name  was  Hannah  Waterman, 
and  her  family  was  worthy  and  influential.  It  was 
her  interest,  no  doubt,  which  secured  her  son's  ap 
prenticeship  to  the  trade  of  apothecary  with  her  rela 
tives,  Drs.  Daniel  and  Joshua  Lothrop,  both  graduates 
of  Yale  College,  and  the  leading  importers  of  drugs 
in  New  England.  Having  served  his  apprenticeship, 
he  made  several  voyages  to  the  West  Indies  as  super 
cargo  of  a  vessel  in  which  he  was  interested,  and  then 
upon  returning  from  a  journey  to  London,  he  hung 
out  his  sign  at  New  Haven,  "B.  Arnold,  druggist, 
bookseller,  etc.  From  London. ' ' 

Under  the  patronage  of  the  Lothrops,  Arnold  seems 
to  have  carried  on  business  successfully.  From  1768 
to  1773,  we  find  him  still  living  at  New  Haven,  a 
trader  with  the  West  Indies,  Martinique,  Jamaica,  St. 
Croix  and  St.  Eustatius;  sometimes  sailing  his  own 
ships,  transporting  horses  and  cattle,  as  well  as  mer 
chandise;  and  we  may  note,  having  business  connec 
tions  and  correspondents  in  Montreal  and  Quebec, 
which  cities  he  visited  personally  on  more  than  one 
occasion.  He  had  experienced  business  reverses  and 
gone  into  bankruptcy,— from  which  we  are  told  he 
did  not  emerge  very  creditably— though  it  does  not 
appear  that  he  made  money  by  the  operation,  or 
seriously  damaged  his  reputation.  By  the  time  the 
Revolution  broke  out  he  had  rallied  and  was  doing  a 
good  business.  He  had  repurchased  for  three  hun 
dred  pounds  the  family  homestead  of  Dr.  Lothrop, 


16          ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

who  had  bought  it  from  his  father  for  ten  pounds, 
and  there  is  a  sworn  appraisal  of  his  property  at 
the  opening  of  the  Eevolution  at  about  twelve  thou 
sand  dollars. 

In  1775  his  military  ambitions  had  not  left  him, 
and  he  had  become  the  popular  young  captain  of  one 
of  the  two  companies  of  "Governor's  Guards,"  the 
crack  militia  organization  of  Connecticut.  He  appears 
as  a  man  of  sensitive  pride  and  temper,  full  of  self- 
confidence,  of  force— therefore  with  enemies— and 
enjoying  respect  and  local  favor  in  a  considerable 
degree.  That  he  was  generous  and  thoughtful  of 
others  is  witnessed  even  by  his  detractors. 

He  had  married,  in  New  Haven,  Miss  Margaret 
Mansfield,  the  accomplished  daughter  of  Samuel  Mans 
field,  high-sheriff  of  the  county,  by  whom  he  had 
three  children;  but  at  this  time  he  was  a  widower. 
An  only  sister,  Hannah  Arnold,  who  was  devoted  to 
him,  was  in  charge  of  his  household. 

He  was  rather  short  in  stature,  thickset  and  very 
muscular,  and  of  good  figure.  He  was  a  decided  favor 
ite  with  women  and  enjoyed  their  society.  He  had  dark 
hair,  light  eyes,  a  florid  complexion  and  features  which 
might  fairly  be  called  handsome.  He  was  an  excellent 
horseman,  no  mean  sailor,  and  a  splendid  shot  with 
either  rifle  or  pistol.  His  skill  with  the  latter  had 
stood  him  in  good  stead  on  the  dueling-ground,  and 
was  destined  to  save  his  life  once,  at  least,  in  close 
quarters  on  the  battlefield. 


BENEDICT    ARNOLD  17 

News  of  the  battle  fought  at  Lexington  on  the 
19th  of  April  reached  New  Haven  by  midday  of  the 
20th.  Arnold  and  his  company  assembled  and,  joined 
by  some  enthusiastic  students  from  Yale  College,  made 
a  demand  on  the  selectmen  for  powder,  so  that  they 
might  set  off  at  once  for  Cambridge.  This  request 
being  refused  for  lack  of  orders  from  the  colonial 
authorities,  Arnold  did  not  hesitate;  he  forced  the 
selectmen  to  deliver  the  keys,  opened  the  powder- 
house  and  marched  for  Cambridge  with  a  full  comple 
ment,  arriving  there  with  one  of  the  best-drilled, 
best-equipped  and  best-uniformed  companies  which 
the  little  army  could  boast. 

Such  a  leader,  so  announced,  would  have  been 
likely  to  attract  attention,  even  if  less  self-confident, 
and  Arnold  was  never  a  laggard  in  the  path  of  ambi 
tion.  On  April  30,  a  few  days  after  his  arrival  at 
Cambridge,  he  wrote  to  the  Massachusetts  Committee 
of  Safety,  urging  an  expedition  to  capture  Ticonder- 
oga,  Crown  Point  and  Montreal.  On  May  3,  so  well 
did  he  bespeak  his  cause,  we  find  him  receiving  a 
colonel's  commission,  and  departing  for  western  Mass 
achusetts,  there  to  raise  the  levies  for  the  under 
taking. 

The  same  idea  had  meanwhile  been  conceived  by 
Ethan  Allen,  who  was  in  command  of  the  militia 
companies  of  Vermont,  and  by  some  of  the  leading 
men  of  Hartford,  who  had  raised  a  company  and 
hurried  it  forward  to  cooperate  with  Colonel  Allen, 
already  on  the  march.  On  arriving  at  Stockbridge, 


18          ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION   TO    QUEBEC 

therefore,  Arnold  found  himself  forestalled,  and 
without  waiting  to  recruit  the  levies  he  was  author 
ized  to  raise,  he  hurried  forward  in  order  that  he 
might  not  himself  miss  the  stirring  events  which  were 
at  hand. 

Perhaps  he  relied  on  his  regular  commission  from 
Massachusetts  to  supersede  tne  zealous  Vermonter  in 
his  command.  But  Allen  proved  to  be  a  man  too 
much  after  his  own  temper;  it  was  a  case  of  "Greek 
meeting  Greek."  Arnold  could  not  take  the  fortress 
with  the  magic  of  his  commission;  Allen  could  take 
it  with  his  men.  As  a  courtesy,  however,  Allen  ac 
cepted  Arnold  as  a  volunteer,  the  latter  retaining  his 
rank,  and  together,  May  10,  at  the  head  of  only 
eighty-three  men,  they  surprised  and  captured  the 
fortress  at  Ticonderoga,  its  small  garrison  of  forty- 
eight  men  and  its  rich  stores  of  munitions  of  war,  so 
much  needed  for  the  siege  of  Boston.  Crown  Point 
fell  in  short  order,  an  equally  easy  prey. 

Canada  was  regarded  as  the  "back  door"  which 
would  always  be  open  for  the  King's  troops.  Thus 
was  its  key  placed  in  the  hands  of  Congress,  and  the 
entrance  to  the  western  waterways,  scenes  of  former 
warfare  with  the  French,  safely  closed.  Naturally  the 
names  of  those  who  were  foremost  in  carrying  out 
the  enterprise  became  at  once  famous  throughout  the 
colonies. 

But  though  they  had  buried  their  differences  so 
amicably  in  the  face  of  the  dangerous  exploit  in 
which  they  were  mutually  engaged,  Allen  and  Arnold 


BENEDICT    ARNOLD  19 

soon  found  numerous  occasions  for  friction  and  dis 
sension.  Conspicuous  among  these  was  the  affair  of 
St.  John's. 

Arnold  had  been  joined  a  few  days  after  the  cap 
ture  of  Ticonderoga  by  about  fifty  men  raised  by  his 
lieutenants,  Oswald  and  Brown,  in  the  Berkshires. 
They  brought  with  them  the  schooner  Liberty,  taken 
from  Philip  Skene,  a  government  officer  at  Skenes- 
borough,  at  the  head  of  Lake  Champlain.  Availing 
himself  of  this  vessel,  and  having  fixed  upon  her  four 
carriage  and  six  swivel  guns,  Arnold  stole  a  march 
upon  Allen,  with  whom  he  still  contested  the  chief 
command,  and  moved  rapidly  up  the  lake  to  Crown 
Point  and  St.  John's,  where  he  captured  twenty  men 
and  made  prize  of  a  King's  sloop  and  some  military 
stores.  Eeturning,  he  had  the  satisfaction  of  meet 
ing  Allen  setting  out  with  one  hundred  men  in  bateaux 
to  accomplish  the  same  object. 

Upon  another  occasion,  a  number  of  the  Connecti 
cut  officers  called  upon  Arnold  at  Crown  Point,  to 
protest  against  his  pretensions  to  command  them. 
The  interview  was  stormy,  and  before  it  was  ended 
Colonel  Easton,  as  Arnold  thought,  insulted  him.  In 
Arnold's  regimental  memorandum  book  there  is  this 
brief  entry,  acquainting  us  with  the  subsequent  pro 
ceedings  : 

"I  took  the  liberty  of  breaking  his  (Easton 's)  head 
and  on  his  refusing  to  draw  like  a  gentleman,  he  hav 
ing  a  hanger  by  his  side,  and  a  case  of  loaded  pistols 


20          ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

in  his  pocket,  I  kicked  him  very  heartily  and  ordered 
him  from  the  point  immediately." 

Such  dissensions  of  course  gave  rise  to  scandal, 
and  a  committee  from  the  Massachusetts  Legislature 
having  been  sent  to  enquire  into  Arnold's  conduct 
while  under  its  commission,  that  high-spirited  officer 
promptly  resigned  from  the  service  of  Massachusetts 
and  returned  to  Cambridge  in  July. 

General  Washington  had  just  arrived  from  Virginia 
to  take  the  command,  on  July  2,  of  the  heterogeneous 
bands  of  militia  collected  around  Boston,  and  Arnold, 
on  his  return  from  the  Lakes,  met  him  for  the  first 
time.  Washington  recognized  the  young  officer's 
merit  from  the  outset.  Always  fair-minded  and 
hampered  by  no  local  prejudices,  he  became  at  once 
his  admirer  and  friend. 

While  at  Crown  Point,  Arnold,  who  seems  beyond 
all  others— unless  it  may  be  Ethan  Allen— to  have 
understood  the  value  of  rapid  action  at  the  beginning 
of  such  a  war,  had  sent  spies  into  Canada  to  ascer 
tain  the  enemy's  strength  and  the  sentiments  of  the 
French  and  Canadians.  He  also  sent  a  Mr.  Hoit,  an 
Indian  interpreter,  and  three  Stockbridge  Indians 
with  a  belt  of  wampum  to  conciliate  the  Caughnawaga 
Indians  above  Montreal. 

The  information  thus  gained,  together,  no  doubt, 
with  reports  from  Arnold's  own  friends  and  business 
correspondents  in  Montreal  and  Quebec,  he  had  for 
warded  to  Congress  in  June.  The  substantial  interest 
thus  displayed  in  the  projected  invasion  of  Canada, 


BENEDICT   ARNOLD  21 

his  own  familiarity  with  the  region,  gained  through 
frequent  visits  as  a  trader,  and  his  creditable  military 
services  at  Ticonderoga  and  Crown  Point,  all  united 
to  designate  him  as  the  most  fit  man  to  lead  the 
second  expedition  which  was  now  to  be  equipped. 
If  he  had  not  actually  suggested  the  plan  to  General 
Washington  he  certainly  gave  it  his  enthusiastic 
approval,  and  to  his  other  qualifications  for  its  com 
mand  was  added  the  confidence  and  appreciation  with 
which  the  great  Virginian  openly  regarded  him. 

The  duty  to  which  Arnold  was  assigned  was  one 
of  great  responsibility,  for  many  patriots,  including 
even  Washington  himself,  were  inclined  to  believe 
that  the  issue  of  the  struggle  with  England  would 
turn  upon  the  attempt  at  the  conquest  of  Canada. 
Success  there  seemed  certain  to  bring  either  peace 
with  a  redress  of  grievances,  or  independence.  Much 
also  was  risked  in  the  campaign,  for  the  season  was 
already  well  advanced,  and  the  line  of  march  lay  for 
much  of  the  way  through  an  untrodden  wilderness, 
far  removed  from  any  proper  base  of  supplies.  But 
difficulties  of  this  description  were  not  likely  to  daunt 
an  officer  of  Arnold's  energy  and  daring,  while  the 
supreme  importance  of  the  stake  seemed  to  older  and 
cooler  heads  than  his  sufficient  excuse  for  the  venture. 
Moreover,  the  failure  of  this  expedition  would  not 
mean  the  failure  of  the  campaign;  Schuyler's  army 
would  not  as  a  necessary  consequence  meet  defeat. 

There  were  three  principal  ways  by  which  an 
entrance  into  Canada  might  be  sought,  besides  the 
Champlain  route,  over  which  Schuyler  was  advancing. 


22          ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

One  was  by  the  Connecticut  River,  the  Salmon  River 
and  the  St.  Francis,  which  would  carry  the  invader 
to  Lake  St.  Peter,  about  one  hundred  miles  above 
Quebec;  the  second  followed  the  St.  John  and  Mad- 
awaska  Rivers  and  passed  over  the  carrying  place  to 
Kamouraska  on  the  River  St.  Lawrence,  about  one 
hundred  miles  below  Quebec.  This  second  passage 
seems  to  have  been  regarded  as  the  easier  of  ascent 
by  the  British,  and  the  most  likely  to  be  used  should 
an  attempt  on  Quebec  be  made.  The  third  way  was 
that  by  the  Kennebec  and  the  Chaudiere.  There  does 
not  seem  to  have  been  any  question  in  Washington's 
mind  that  this  last  route  was  the  best  for  his  pur 
poses—indeed,  the  others  seem  not  to  have  been  seri 
ously  considered. 

The  plan  of  campaign  had  nothing  novel  in  it,  be 
yond  the  route  of  the  inland  waters  of  Maine  and 
Canada  and  the  element  of  surprise.  The  campaign 
of  1756-59  had  been  directed  against  the  same  objec 
tive  points,  and  with  the  identical  purpose  of  dividing 
the  forces  of  the  enemy  and  reducing  the  two  principal 
cities  of  the  hostile  country.  Montgomery  was  follow 
ing  in  the  very  footsteps  of  Amherst,  while  Arnold 
was  called  upon  to  play  the  part  of  the  immortal 
Wolfe.  In  place  of  Bougainville  and  Bigot,  Vaudreuil 
and  Montcalm  to  oppose  them,  there  was  only  Gover 
nor  Guy  Carleton  and  a  few  other  English  and  French 
veterans  of  inferior  rank.  Earlier  still,  the  fleet  of 
Phipps  and  the  army  of  Colonel  Schuyler  had  shown 
the  way  for  Wolfe  and  Amherst,  and  as  far  back  as 
1711  Admiral  Walker's  ill-fated  armada  and  General 


BENEDICT    ARNOLD  23 

Nicholson's  provincials  had  undertaken  to  strike  the 
same  blows  in  similar  fashion. 

But  no  previous  expedition  had  been  obliged  to  fol 
low  a  path  so  dimly  traced  through  almost  unexplored 
wilderness,  or  to  meet  the  hardships  and  perils  which 
were  in  store  for  Arnold's  devoted  band.  Theirs  was  a 
road  much  of  which  only  marauding  parties  of  painted 
savages  or  occasional  wandering  trappers  and  hunters 
had  ever  traveled,  and  so  inaccurate  was  the  informa 
tion  at  Washington's  command  that  both  the  distance 
and  the  difficulties  of  the  way  were  much  underesti 
mated. 

"From  the  mouth  of  the  Kennebec  Eiver  to  Quebec, 
on  a  straight  line,"  he  wrote  to  Congress,  "is  two 
hundred  and  ten  miles.  The  river  is  navigable  for 
sloops  about  thirty-eight  miles,  and  for  flat-bottomed 
boats  about  twenty-two  miles;  then  you  meet  Ticonic 
Falls,  and  from  Ticonic  Falls  to  Norridgewock,  as  the 
river  runs,  is  thirty-one  miles,  from  thence  to  the  first 
carrying  place,  about  thirty  miles;  carrying  place 
four  miles,  then  a  pond  to  cross  and  another  carry 
ing  place  about  two  miles  to  another  pond;  then  a 
carrying  place  about  three  or  four  miles  to  another 
pond,  then  a  carrying  place  to  the  western  branch  of 
the  Kennebec  Eiver,  called  the  Dead  Eiver,  then  up 
that  river  as  it  runs  thirty  miles,  some  small  falls  and 
short  carrying  places  intervening;  then  you  come  to 
the  Height  of  Land  and  about  six  miles  carrying 
places,  into  a  branch  which  leads  into  Ammeguntick 
pond,  the  head  of  Chaudiere  Eiver,  which  falls  into 
the  St.  Lawrence  about  four  miles  above  Quebec." 


24          ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION   TO    QUEBEC 

On  comparing  this  description  with  the  maps  of 
to-day,  we  can  correct  its  most  striking  inaccuracies; 
the  length  of  the  Dead  Eiver  was  understated,  it 
seems,  by  fifty  miles ;  and  there  was  no  mention  what 
ever  of  the  second  or  larger  chain  of  lakes,  much  the 
more  numerous  and  formidable,  to  the  east  of  the 
Height  of  Land. 

Indians  on  the  war-path  against  the  Maine  coast 
settlers  used  to  steal  along  these  watercourses  to 
make  their  lightning  attacks,  and  there  were  known 
to  be  well-worn  trails  on  many  of  the  portages.  As 
long  before  as  1689  M.  de  Portneuf,  at  the  head  of 
fifty  French  Canadians  and  sixty  Abenakis,  had 
crossed  the  country  from  Quebec  and  descended  the 
Kennebec,  destroying  the  English  forts  on  Casco  Bay. 
On  the  Kennebec  itself,  straggling  settlements  had 
reached  beyond  Fort  Western  (where  Augusta  now 
stands),  as  far  as  Fort  Halifax,  at  the  junction  of  the 
Kennebec  and  Sebasticook.  There  were  even  a  few 
settlers  as  far  as  Norridgewock.  But  beyond  this  place 
it  was  not  easy  to  obtain  guides.  There  were  few 
hunters  or  trappers  who  knew  the  river  as  far  as 
the  Twelve-Mile  carrying  place,  now  reached  from 
Briggs'  ferry  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  river,  and 
beyond  that  carrying  place  there  was  a  wilderness  of 
forests,  bogs,  and  mountains. 

Though  from  the  St.  Lawrence,  French  settlements 
had  crept  feebly  up  the  wild  Chaudiere  nearly  as  far 
as  the  River  Du  Famine,  yet  of  the  topography  of 
the  country  intervening  to  the  Height  of  Land,  little 


BENEDICT   AENOLD  25 

or  no  information  was  obtainable.  Nevertheless,  of 
this  unknown  and  undescribed  country  there  were 
only  some  eighty  or  ninety  miles,  as  the  crow  flies, 
at  the  broadest  calculation,  and  according  to  Wash 
ington's  information  even  less. 

The  greatest  difficulty  before  the  expedition  from 
a  military  point  of  view  lay  in  the  inadequacy  of  the 
Kennebec  settlements  as  a  base  of  supplies  in  case  of 
unforeseen  emergencies.  The  hamlets,  towns  only  in 
name,  were  hardly  more  than  clearings  in  the  forests 
which  still  covered  the  banks  of  this  noble  river.  The 
settlement  of  the  region  had  indeed  begun  as  early  as 
1639,  when  John  Parker  established  his  trading  post 
and  fishing  station  at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  but 
other  pioneers  had  been  slow  to  follow  him,  and 
whenever  any  considerable  number  had  made  homes 
for  themselves  in  the  wilderness,  they  and  their  fami 
lies  had  met  a  tragic  end  in  one  of  the  Indian  forays 
which  for  a  century  and  a  half  wasted  the  borders  of 
New  England. 

By  1775  some  progress  in  the  settlement  and  civi 
lization  of  the  Kennebec  valley  had  indeed  been 
made,  since  the  danger  from  the  savages  was 
now  greatly  diminished  by  the  final  expulsion  of  the 
French  power  from  Canada.  A  fairly  good  road  had 
been  opened  as  far  as  Fort  Western,  and  there  was 
a  wood  road  at  least  to  Fort  Halifax.  Georgetown 
at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  Woolwich,  Pownalbor- 
ough,  Pittston,  Vassalborough,  and  Winslow  on  the 
eastern  bank,  Broad  Bay  and  Gardinerstown  on  the 
opposite  shore,  had  made  places  for  themselves  in 

4 


26          ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

the  wilderness  and  achieved  names.  But  between 
Georgetown  and  the  Falls  of  Norridgewock,  a  hundred 
miles  above,  there  were  probably  not  over  five  hun 
dred  white  people,  if  so  many.  Pownalborough,  the 
most  pretentious  village  (the  present  town  of  Dres 
den),  numbered  fully  half  of  these,  and  was  the  shire 
town  of  the  county  of  Lincoln.  It  needs  no  technical 
military  knowledge  to  understand  that  a  country  so 
thinly  peopled  was  poorly  adapted  to  furnish  a  base  of 
supplies  even  for  an  armament  no  larger  than  Arnold 's. 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  there  were  features  of  the 
situation  distinctly  favorable  to  the  success  of  the 
undertaking.  The  very  difficulty  of  communication 
between  the  Chaudiere  settlements  and  the  Kennebec 
towns  made  it  unlikely  that  news  of  the  expedition 
would  reach  Quebec  much  in  advance  of  the  troops 
themselves,  and  made  a  virtual  surprise  of  the  citadel 
possible.  The  Indians  of  the  Maine  forests  were  by 
this  time  pacified,  and  even  well  disposed  to  the  col 
onists'  cause,  and  they  had,  moreover,  been  carefully 
conciliated  by  agents  sent  in  advance  of  the  expedi 
tion  itself.  The  Indians  of  the  Norridgewock  tribe, 
who  had  a  white  chief,  Paul  Higgins  by  name,  had 
even  gone  so  far  as  to  march  all  the  way  to  Cam 
bridge  in  August,  under  the  command  of  Reuben 
Colburn,  of  Pownalborough,  to  tender  their  services  to 
General  Washington.  No  doubt  their  visit  and  the 
information  they  gave  were  among  the  reasons  which 
convinced  Washington  that  the  descent  upon  Canada 
by  way  of  the  Kennebec  was  feasible.  Similar  assur 
ances  of  amity  and  offers  of  support  had  come  from 


BENEDICT    ARNOLD  27 

the  Penobscot  tribe,  and  though  little  actual  use  was 
made  of  these  new-found  allies,  no  pains  were  spared 
to  maintain  friendly  relations  with  them,  and  thus  to 
make  it  possible  for  the  expedition  to  traverse  their 
country  with  security  and  confidence. 

Finally  the  spies  and  the  rebel  sympathizers  who 
had  placed  their  information  at  the  service  of  Wash 
ington  and  Arnold  made  it  clear  that  the  defenses  of 
Quebec  had  been  suffered  to  fall  into  comparative 
decay,  while  the  fortress  itself  was  most  inadequately 
garrisoned.  The  walls  had  in  places  begun  to  crum 
ble;  there  were  few  platforms  for  the  cannon;  the 
ditch  was  half  filled  with  debris,  and  there  was  not  a 
single  article  in  store  with  which  to  begin  the  repair 
of  the  fortifications.  Though  there  was  plenty  of 
ammunition,  and  a  quantity  of  provisions  could  easily 
be  obtained  with  fair  notice,  the  Governor's  purse 
was  short,  and  there  were  many  mouths  to  feed. 
Carleton  himself,  with  all  the  troops  he  dared  to 
withdraw,  had  gone  forward  to  protect  Montreal,  and 
trustworthy  spies  reported  that  only  fifty  regular  sol 
diers  were  left  in  Quebec.  Moreover,  as  we  learn 
from  the  journals  of  British  officers  then  in  the  city, 
the  garrison  could  rely  on  only  about  one  hundred 
and  thirty  loyal  citizens  to  support  them,  most  of 
the  population  being  either  stubbornly  neutral  or 
frankly  in  sympathy  with  the  invaders. 

It  appears,  therefore,  that  in  spite  of  the  hazardous 
nature  of  the  enterprise,  it  was  by  no  means  desperate 
or  hopeless.  The  question  of  its  success  or  failure 


28 


ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION   TO    QUEBEC 


depended  upon  the  energy  and  determination  with 
which  it  was  prosecuted— and  upon  the  always  doubt 
ful  fortune  of  war.  Perhaps  its  sponsors  were  unduly 
sanguine  of  its  happy  result,  but  the  prize  which  they 
coveted  was  a  rich  one,  and  well  worth  any  risk  within 
the  bounds  of  reason.  The  project  failed,  and  has 
met  much  consequent  condemnation.  Had  it  suc 
ceeded,  it  would  have  been  beyond  question  the 
most  brilliant  military  exploit  of  the  war. 


THE  EXPEDITION  SETS  FOKTH 


HE  army  gathered  under  Washington's 
command  at  the  siege  of  Boston  numbered 
about  eighteen  thousand  men,  and  was 
principally  composed  of  New  England 
volunteers.  From  this  army  it  was  deter 
mined  to  detach  something  more  than  a  thousand 
troops  for  the  Quebec  expedition— not  a  large  force, 
yet  outnumbering  all  the  British  regulars  then  in 
Canadian  garrisons.  General  Washington  was  the 
better  able  to  spare  this  detachment,  because  it  was 
already  evident  that  the  British  troops  shut  up  in 
Boston  had  accepted  the  situation,  and  had  not  the 
least  intention  of  making  any  vigorous  attempt  to 
raise  the  siege  without  reinforcements  from  England. 
Under  these  circumstances  the  American  commander 
felt  that  the  fewer  men  kept  in  the  enforced  inactivity 
of  an  investment  the  better,  both  for  the  morale  of 
the  army  and  the  cause  for  which  they  were  fighting. 
Had  it  not  appeared  that  the  difficulties  of  equipping, 
transporting  and  supplying  a  larger  force  would  mul 
tiply  in  a  greater  ratio  than  its  increased  effective 
ness,  more  soldiers  could  easily  have  been  added  to 
Arnold's  command  without  impairing  the  efficiency  of 
the  main  army. 

September  6,  1775,  order  were  given  to  draft  the 

(29) 


30          ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

men  for  Quebec  from  their  regiments,  while  a  company 
of  carpenters  was  sent  forward  to  Colburn's  shipyard, 
at  Agry's  Point,  near  Pittston,  about  two  miles  below 
Gardiner,  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Kennebec,  where 
the  two  hundred  bateaux  which  the  expedition  would 
require  were  to  be  built. 

Two  days  later  the  detachment  was  ordered  to 
rendezvous  at  Cambridge,  where  it  was  encamped  on 
the  Common  until  the  13th,  collecting  provisions  and 
filling  up  each  company  of  musketeers  to  eighty- 
four  effective  men,  rank  and  file.  The  whole  force, 
all  volunteers,  was  composed  of  three  companies  of 
riflemen  and  two  battalions  of  musketeers,  and  num 
bered  about  eleven  hundred  men.  Camp  attendants, 
officers'  servants,  guides,  and  a  few  men  enlisted  on 
the  Kennebec  must  have  later  swelled  this  number  to 
nearly  twelve  hundred. 

The  rivalry  among  the  many  rifle  companies  in 
camp  at  Cambridge,  all  of  which  were  eager  to  volun 
teer  for  the  expedition,  was  so  great  that  to  avoid 
jealousy  and  ill-feeling,  the  captains  were  allowed  to 
draw  lots.  Chance  decided  in  favor  of  the  companies 
of  William  Hendricks,*  Matthew  Smith  and  Daniel 
Morgan.  These  riflemen  were  mountaineers  and  fron 
tiersmen  from  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia,  the  two 
companies  first  named  from  the  former  state,  and 
Morgan's  from  the  Old  Dominion.  Inured  to  every 
hardship,  capable  of  every  exertion,  thoroughly  expert 
in  woodcraft  and  trained  in  the  sharp  school  of  border 

*  Hendricks  was  of  Cumberland  County,  Pa.     Smith  of  Lancaster, 
Pa. 


THE    EXPEDITION   SETS   FORTH  31 

Indian  warfare,  they  were,  in  every  respect,  valuable 
recruits  for  such  an  enterprise  as  this.  Morgan's 
company  had  marched  the  six  hundred  miles  from 
Winchester,  Virginia,  to  Cambridge,  in  three  weeks, 
without  losing  a  man  from  sickness  or  desertion.  The 
Pennsylvania  companies  made  a  record  for  endurance 
scarcely  less  remarkable,  marching  more  than  twenty 
miles  a  day  for  twenty-two  days. 

Brought  up  amid  the  alarms  and  massacres  of  the 
French  and  Indian  wars,  taught  from  their  youth  to 
regard  the  red  man  as  their  hereditary  and  inevitable 
enemy,  they  had  perforce  adopted  his  method  of 
warfare,  and  fought  by  stratagem  and  ambuscade 
oftener  than  under  the  articles  of  war.  On  their 
own  frontiers,  indeed,  they  had  sometimes  gone  so 
far  in  the  imitation  of  their  savage  foe  as  to  blacken 
and  paint  their  bodies  and  faces,  and  occasionally 
used  their  tomahawks  to  scalp  as  well  as  kill.  On 
the  present  occasion,  however,  there  was  no  such  re 
lapse  into  primitive  barbarity.  Fearing  neither  "man, 
Indian,  nor  devil,"  and  God  only  so  much  as  to  make 
them  fight  the  heathen  the  better,  the  red  coat  of  a  Brit 
ish  regular  inspired  them  with  more  contempt  than 
terror.  Braddock's  fatal  campaign  had  taught  them 
that  fine  uniforms  and  rigid  adherence  to  army  regula 
tions  were  not  enough  to  make  soldiers  invincible. 

Their  marksmanship  was  the  wonder  of  the  camp 
at  Cambridge.  Loading  and  firing  on  the  run,  they 
would  often  pierce  a  target  only  seven  inches  in 
diameter  at  a  distance  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  yards 
— an  exploit  which  seems  almost  miraculous  when 


32          ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

the  weapons  of  that  day  are  considered.  As  soldiers 
they  were  ready  to  maintain  the  best  of  discipline. 
Later  in  the  war,  when  Morgan  organized  his  famous 
regiment  of  riflemen,  it  became  the  most  dreaded 
body  of  men  in  the  Continental  service,  and  was 
generously  declared  by  Burgoyne,  at  whose  defeat  it 
assisted  conspicuously,  the  finest  regiment  in  the 
world.  But  they  abhorred  the  inactivity  of  camp  life 
and  were  only  too  eager  to  share  in  the  certain  perils 
and  possible  glories  of  the  Quebec  undertaking. 

The  New  England  volunteers  were  divided  into  two 
battalions,  one  commanded  by  Lieutenant-C  o  1  o  n  e  1 
Roger  Enos*  of  Vermont,  an  officer  of  American  birth, 
who  had,  however,  the  advantage  of  having  seen  ser 
vice  in  the  British  army,  and  Major  Return  Jonathan 
Meigs,  a  tradesman-soldier  from  Connecticut;  while 
the  other  was  commanded  by  Lieutenant-C  o  1  o  n  e  1 
Christopher  Greene,  a  son  of  one  of  the  justices  of 
the  Rhode  Island  Supreme  Court,  and  Major  Timothy 
Bigelow  of  Massachusetts.  The  companies  composing 
the  first  battalion  were  led  by  Captains  Scott,  Samuel 
McCobb,  Thomas  Williams,  William  Goodrich,  Oliver 
Hanchett  and  Henry  Dearborn.  Those  of  the  second 
battalion  were  commanded  by  Captains  Samuel  Ward 
(a  son  of  the  governor  of  Rhode  Island),  Simeon 
Thayer,  John  Topham,  Jonas  Hubbard,  and  Oliver 
Colburn.f  These  men,  although  of  less  conspicuous 

*  Roger  Enos,  of  Connecticut. 

t  Colburn  headed  a  party  of  mechanics  from  the  shipyard,  and  went 
part  of  the  way  to  Quebec,  as  did  also  Ayres,  whom  Dearborn  calls 
"  captain  of  our  Pioneers."  Each  probably  had  his  title  only  as  a  local 
matter  (Smith). 


THE    EXPEDITION    SETS    FORTH  33 

physical  proportions  and  martial  accomplishments  than 
the  riflemen,  were  still  sturdy,  active  and  courageous, 
hardly  yet  accustomed  to  the  standard  of  discipline 
that  must  obtain  in  every  effective  fighting  force,  but 
well  fitted  to  sustain  the  arduous  campaign  they  had 
undertaken.  Their  officers  were  in  some  cases  from 
wealthy  and  aristocratic  families,  while  others  were 
simply  honest  farmers  or  tradesmen,  who  had  aban 
doned  their  humdrum  occupations  to  take  up  arms 
in  a  cause  they  felt  to  be  just,  and  had  been  chosen 
to  command  by  neighbors  who  knew  and  trusted 
them.  Earnest  patriots  all,  they  gave  concrete  expres 
sion  to  that  democratic  spirit  which  was  henceforth 
to  animate  the  young  republic  they  labored  to  establish. 

The  detachment,  as  a  whole,  was  of  the  very  flower 
of  the  colonial  youth, — young  men  of  a  spirit  not 
easily  to  be  restrained  by  their  elders,  whom  parental 
warnings  of  the  fatigues  and  perils  to  be  encountered 
only  served  to  fire  with  more  ardent  yearnings  for 
a  share  in  the  glory  of  success.  Two  hundred  and 
fifty  came  from  Ehode  Island,  one  hundred  from  Con 
necticut,  four  hundred  from  Massachusetts,  including 
the  District  of  Maine,  one  hundred  from  New  Hamp 
shire,  two  hundred  from  Pennsylvania,  one  hundred 
from  Virginia,  and  a  few  volunteers  from  New  Jersey. 
Even  at  that  time  America  was  glad  to  accept  the 
aid  of  the  sons  of  Erin,  and  there  were  in  the  little 
army  nearly  two  hundred  "emigrants"— fully  a  sixth 
of  the  detachment— from  the  old  country,  a  large 
majority  of  whom  were  from  Ireland. 


34          ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION   TO    QUEBEC 

It  was  wisely  a  body  of  young  men.  Arnold  him 
self  was  but  thirty-four.  Enos,  the  oldest  of  the 
officers,  and,  as  the  event  was  to  prove,  the  least  reli 
able,  was  forty-five.  The  other  officers  were  all 
below  forty.  Morgan  was  thirty-eight,  a  splendid 
man,  standing  over  six  feet  in  his  moccasins  and 
weighing  two  hundred  pounds.  His  aspect  was  com 
manding,  his  voice  stentorian,  his  strength  and  en 
durance  invincible.  He  had  first  seen  service  as  a 
teamster  in  Braddock's  army,  and  was  a  battle- 
scarred  veteran  of  more  than  one  border  "war."  On 
the  march  he  wore  leggings  and  a  cloth,  in  the  Indian 
style;  his  beard  was  allowed  to  grow,  and  one  mem 
ber  of  the  expedition  refers  to  him  as  having  the 
appearance  history  gives  to  Belisarius.  Smith,  the 
hero— or  devil— of  the  massacres  at  Conestoga  and 
Lancaster  jail,  of  which  Parkman  tells  us  in  "The 
Conspiracy  of  Pontiac, ' '  was  somewhat  younger ;  Meigs 
a  trifle  older;  Greene,  Hendricks,  Bigelow  and  the 
others  were  younger  still. 

Most  of  them  had  seen  service  of  some  sort,  in 
spite  of  their  youth.  Captain  Thayer  had  been  a 
member  of  the  famous  "Rogers'  Rangers,"  and  his 
hairbreadth  escape  from  the  massacre  of  Fort  William 
Henry  was  terrifying  enough  to  have  excused  his 
devoting  the  remainder  of  his  life  to  his  peaceful 
occupation  as  a  maker  of  periwigs.  Captain  Dear 
born,  a  young  man  of  twenty-four,  who  had  educated 
himself  to  be  a  physician,  but  was  destined  to  pursue 
a  semi-military,  semi-political  career,  with  no  little 
distinction,  had  received  his  baptism  of  fire  at  Bunker 


THE    EXPEDITION    SETS   FORTH  35 

Hill.  Christian  Febiger,  a  young  Danish  emigrant 
with  a  military  education,  had  won  his  spurs  in  the 
same  battle,  and  acted  as  adjutant  of  the  expedition. 
Besides  the  regular  officers,  there  were  a  number  of 
commissioned  volunteers,  all  youths,  some  almost* 
striplings.  Among  them  were  Aaron  Burr,  the  son  of 
the  president  of  Princeton  College,  and  afterward 
famous  in  American  history;  Matthias  Ogden  of 
New  Jersey;  Eleazer  Oswald,  who  served  as  Arnold's 
private  secretary;  Charles  Porterfield  of  Virginia; 
Eev.  Samuel  Spring  of  Newburyport,  the  chaplain, 
and  a  few  others.  The  commissariat,  which  promised 
to  prove  a  most  difficult  department  to  conduct,  ap 
pears  to  have  been  organized  by  Captain  Joseph 
Farnsworth  and  an  assistant,  Jeremiah  Wheelwright.* 

On  September  13,  all  preparations  being  completed, 
the  second  battalion  left  Cambridge  on  their  march 
for  Newburyport,  the  port  of  embarkation  for  the 
mouth  of  the  Kennebec.  That  day  they  reached  Mai 
den  and  there  passed  the  night.  At  five  in  the  after 
noon  of  the  same  day  the  first  battalion  followed, 
and  quartered  that  night  at  the  meeting-houses  at 
Mystic  and  Medford.  On  the  following  day  both 
battalions  continued  their  march — the  second  camp 
ing  at  Beverly,  while  the  first,  passing  through  the 
towns  of  Maiden  and  Lynn,  encamped  at  Salem  and 
Danvers.  The  weather  was  hot  and  sultry.  At  sun 
set  on  the  15th  the  second  battalion  reached  New 
buryport,  the  first  following  them  next  morning.  The 
men  were  quartered,  some  in  the  Presbyterian  meet- 

*  Great-great-grandfather  of  Mr.  Codman.      [Eo.] 


3G          ARNOLD'S   EXPEDITION   TO    QUEBEC 

ing-house,  some  in  two  of  the  ropewalks,  some  at 
Davenport's  Inn,  while  the  riflemen  spread  their  tents 
in  a  field  near  Eolfe's  lane.  The  officers  were  enter 
tained  by  Mr.  Nathaniel  Tracy  and  Mr.  Tristram 
Dalton.  The  detachment  received  an  ovation  upon 
its  arrival,  and  the  patriotic  citizens  of  Newburyport 
were  lavish  in  their  hospitality. 

Meanwhile  Arnold  remained  at  Cambridge,  doubt 
less  to  receive  his  final  orders,  until  the  morning  of 
the  15th,  an  unlucky  Friday.  It  is  highly  probable, 
too,  that  Washington  held  him  back  for  the  very 
latest  despatches  from  Schuyler,  who  wrote  Washing 
ton  on  the  last  day  of  August  that  Montgomery  was 
to  leave  Crown  Point  that  day.  Stopping  at  Salem 
for  dinner,  and  to  arrange  for  the  forwarding  of  some 
two  hundred  pounds  of  ginger,  and  two  hundred  and 
seventy  blankets  received  from  the  Committee  of 
Safety,  he  arrived  at  Newburyport  at  ten  o'clock  the 
same  evening. 

He  brought  with  him  not  only  General  Washing 
ton's  instructions  for  the  conduct  of  the  expedition, 
but  also  a  liberal  supply  of  printed  hand-bills  con 
taining  a  manifesto  addressed  to  the  people  of  Canada, 
which  were  to  be  distributed  broadcast  as  soon  as 
the  Chaudiere  settlements  should  be  reached.  The 
detailed  orders,  outlining  the  commander's  duty  in 
specific  emergencies,  and  the  somewhat  inflated  rhet 
oric  of  the  manifesto,  hardly  demand  insertion  here, 
but  it  is  worth  while  to  print  Washington's  general 
letter  of  instruction  to  Colonel  Arnold,  in  order  that 


THE    EXPEDITION   SETS    FORTH  37 

we  may  understand  the  spirit  in  which  the  invasion 
of  Canada  was  undertaken,  and  appreciate  the  sin 
cere  hopes  which  were  then  entertained  by  the  patriot 
leaders,  of  widespread  and  effective  cooperation  on 
the  part  of  the  Canadians  themselves.  The  letter  is 
as  follows: 

CAMP  AT  CAMBRIDGE,  14th  September,  1775. 

To  COLONEL  BENEDICT  ARNOLD. 

Sir:— You  are  intrusted  with  a  command  of  the  utmost 
consequence  to  the  interests  and  liberties  of  America.  Upon 
your  conduct  and  courage,  and  that  of  the  officers  and  soldiers 
detached  on  this  expedition,  not  only  the  success  of  the 
present  enterprise,  and  your  own  honor,  but  the  safety  and 
welfare  of  the  whole  continent  may  depend.  I  charge  you, 
therefore,  and  the  officers  and  soldiers  under  your  command, 
as  you  value  your  own  safety  and  honor,  and  the  favor  and 
esteem  of  your  country,  that  you  consider  yourselves  as 
marching  not  through  the  country  of  an  enemy,  but  of  our 
friends  and  brethren,  for  such  the  inhabitants  of  Canada,  and 
the  Indian  nations,  have  approved  themselves  in  this  unhappy 
contest  between  Great  Britain  and  America,  and  that  you 
check,  by  every  motive  of  duty  and  fear  of  punishment,  every 
attempt  to  plunder  or  insult  the  inhabitants  of  Canada. 
Should  any  American  soldier  be  so  base  and  infamous  as  to 
injure  any  Canadian  or  Indian  in  his  person  or  property,  I  do 
most  earnestly  enjoin  you  to  bring  him  to  such  severe  and 
exemplary  punishment,  as  the  enormity  of  the  crime  may 
require.  Should  it  extend  to  death  itself,  it  shall  not  be  dis- 
proportioned  to  its  guilt,  at  such  a  time  and  in  such  a  cause. 

But,  I  hope  and  trust,  that  the  brave  men  who  have  volun 
tarily  engaged  in  this  expedition,  will  be  governed  by  far 
different  views,  and  that  order,  discipline  and  regularity  of 


38          ARNOLD'S   EXPEDITION   TO    QUEBEC 

behavior,  will  be  as  conspicuous  as  their  valor.  I  also  give 
it  in  charge  to  you  to  avoid  all  disrespect  of  the  religion  of 
the  country,  and  its  ceremonies.  Prudence,  policy,  and  a 
true  Christian  spirit,  will  lead  us  to  look  with  compassion 
upon  their  errors  without  insulting  them.  While  we  are  con 
tending  for  our  own  liberty,  we  should  be  very  cautious  not 
to  violate  the  rights  of  conscience  in  others,  ever  considering 
that  God  alone  is  the  judge  of  the  hearts  of  men,  and  to  him 
only  in  this  case,  they  are  answerable. 

Upon  the  whole,  sir,  I  beg  you  to  inculcate  upon  the 
officers  and  soldiers  the  necessity  of  preserving  the  strictest 
order  during  the  march  through  Canada ;  to  represent  to  them 
the  shame,  disgrace,  and  ruin  to  themselves  and  their  country, 
if  they  should  by  their  conduct  turn  the  hearts  of  our  brethren 
in  Canada  against  us;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  honors 
and  rewards,  which  await  them,  if  by  their  prudence  and 
good  behavior  they  conciliate  the  affections  of  the  Canadians 
and  Indians  to  the  great  interest  of  America,  and  convert 
those  favorable  dispositions  they  have  shown  into  a  lasting 
union  and  affection.  Thus  wishing  you,  and  the  officers 
and  soldiers  under  your  command,  all  honor,  safety,  and  suc 
cess,  I  remain,  Sir, 

Your  most  obedient  humble  servant, 

GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 

Special  instructions  were  also  given  to  Arnold  con 
cerning  the  son  of  Lord  Chatham,  who  was  known  to 
be  at  this  time  traveling  in  Canada.  This  young  man 
was  to  be  shown  every  mark  of  deference  and  respect, 
should  he  by  any  chance  fall  into  the  hands  of  the 
expedition.  "You  cannot  err,"  wrote  Washington,  "in 
paying  too  much  honor  to  the  son  of  so  illustrious  a 
character  and  so  true  a  friend  of  America."  The 


THE    EXPEDITION   SETS   FORTH 


39 


opportunity  to  give  effect  to  these  instructions  never 
presented  itself,  but  their  spirit  shows  how  deep  and 
genuine  was  the  grateful  affection  which  Chatham's 
sturdy  defense  of  the  principle  of  liberty  had  aroused 
in  the  breast  of  the  truest  American  patriots. 


CHAPTER   IV 


THE  ASCENT  OF  THE  KENNEBEC 


HE  16th  day  of  September  being  Sunday, 
the  troops  at  Newburyport  attended  di 
vine  worship  at  Rev.  Jonathan  Parsons' 
meeting-house,  or  listened  to  their  chap 
lain,  Rev.  Mr.  Spring.  The  next  day  a 
grand  review  was  held,  and  on  the  18th  the  whole 
detachment  embarked  on  board  ten  transports :  among 
them  the  Commodore,  the  flagship,  carrying  Arnold;* 
the  sloops  Britannia,  Comvay,  Abigail  and  Swallow; 
the  schooners  Hougliton,  Eagle,  Hannah  and  Broad 
Bay,  the  latter  under  Captain  James  Clarkson,  who 
was  to  act  as  sailing-master  for  the  fleet. 

Three  small  boats  had  been  sent  forward  to  ascer 
tain  if  there  were  any  British  vessels  in  the  offing. 
One  of  these  having  returned  and  reported  the  coast 
clear,  the  following  morning  about  ten  o'clock  the 
transports  weighed  anchor  and  with  "colors  flying, 
drums  and  fifes  playing,  the  hills  all  around  being 
covered  with  pretty  girls  weeping  for  their  departing 
swains,"  set  sail.  The  fleet  was  bound,  sailing  N.N.E. 
with  pleasant  weather  and  a  fair  wind,  for  the  mouth 

*  As  Arnold  and  Dr.  Senter  were  on  the  same  vessel,  the  Broad  Bay 
(the  diaries  of  Haskell  and  Thayer  also  agree  with  this),  it  is  probable 
that  Mr.  Codman  is  wrong  about  this. 

40 


:"L5K£\  UiNIDEIf 


riART  OF  THE  COiMHAMD  OF  i 


THE  BRONZP:  TABLET  AT  NEWBURYPORT. 


THE    ASCENT    OF    THE    KENNEBEC  41 

of  the  Kennebec  Kiver,  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
from  Newburyport. 

The  vessels  crossed  the  bar  before  Newburyport 
harbor  and  lay  to,  while  the  Sivallow,  which  had 
stuck  fast  on  a  rock,  was  lightened  of  her  quota  of 
troops  and  gotten  safely  off.  It  was  not  till  two  in 
the  afternoon  that  the  signal  for  sailing  was  again 
given.  The  fleet  ran  along  shore  until  midnight, 
when,  in  response  to  another  signal,  they  hove  to 
with  head  off  shore,  near  Wood's  Island. 

The  wind  had  increased,  and  the  sea  was  so  rough 
by  night  that  King  Neptune  raised  his  taxes  without 
the  least  difficulty  where  King  George  had  failed,  and 
the  reluctant  soldiers  "disgorged  themselves  of  the 
luxuries  so  plentifully  laid  in  ere  they  embarked." 
During  the  night  the  hardy  backwoodsmen  and  farm 
ers  had  a  true  taste  of  the  sea,  for  the  waves  dashed 
high,  it  thundered  and  lightened,  and  the  morning  of 
the  20th  dawned  with  fog  and  heavy  rain.  They  made 
sail  early  in  the  morning  and  arrived  at  one  p.  M.  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Kennebec.  Here  they  anchored  for 
six  hours  at  Heal's  Eddy,  and  then  proceeded  as  far  as 
Georgetown,  where  they  lay  to  all  night. 

While  the  fleet  of  transports  were  at  anchor  at  Par 
ker's  Flats,  the  Georgetown  minister,  Eev.  Ezekiel 
Emerson,  and  one  of  his  deacons,  Jordan  Parker, 
came  aboard  the  Commodore  to  pay  their  respects  to 
Arnold  and  the  officers.  Impressed  with  the  impor 
tance  and  hazardous  nature  of  the  enterprise,  the 
devout  parson  thought  it  incumbent  upon  him  to 


42          ARNOLD'S   EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

offer  a  prayer  in  length  commensurate  to  all  the  cir 
cumstances.  His  invocation  was  continued  (so  tra 
dition  asserts)  for  an  hour  and  three-quarters,  with 
what -effect  on  the  officers  and  crew  is  not  recorded. 

As  the  vessels  in  advance  entered  the  Kennebec, 
a  number  of  men  under  arms  hailed  them  from  the 
shore,  and  upon  being  answered  that  the  vessels  car 
ried  Continental  troops  and  were  in  need  of  a  pilot, 
immediately  sent  one  on  board.  The  rest  of  the  fleet, 
separated  during  the  night  in  the  fog  and  the  storm, 
were  anxiously  awaited.  However,  all  came  up  dur 
ing  the  day,  except  the  Conway  and  the  Abigail. 
Wind  and  tide  now  favoring,  they  proceeded  up  the 
Kennebec  past  the  island  hamlet  called  "Rousack," 
or  Arrowsic,  across  the  broad  expanse  of  Merry-Meet 
ing  Bay,  where  the  waters  of  the  Androscoggin  and 
five  other  smaller  streams  join  the  Kennebec,  and 
finally  past  Swan  Island  and  the  ruins  of  Fort  Rich 
mond,  some  twenty-five  miles  above  the  river's  mouth. 

A  little  above  this  island  they  came  to  anchor 
opposite  Pownalborough,  where  there  were  a  block 
house,  a  court-house  and  a  jail,  besides  a  rambling 
settlement  of  perhaps  twoscore  houses.  Here  they 
were  joined  by  the  missing  sloops,  which  had  by 
mistake  run  past  the  mouth  of  the  Kennebec  the 
day  before. 

Some  of  the  ships  were  delayed  by  running  upon 
shoals  and  upon  Swan  Island,  owing  to  faulty  pilot 
ing,  and  during  the  22d  and  23d  the  others  awaited 
their  arrival  at  Pownalborough,  while  details  were 


THE    ASCENT    OF    THE    KENNEBEC  43 

counted  off  to  take  charge  of  the  bateaux  now  nearly 
completed  at  Colburn's  shipyard,  a  short  distance 
above,  at  Agry's  Point.  Within  two  weeks  two  hun 
dred*  bateaux  had  been  built  and  eleven  hundred  men^ 
levied,  supplied  with  provisions  and  transported  to 
this  place,  over  two  hundred  miles  from  Cambridge. 
This  was  rapid  work  for  those  days  of  slender  re 
sources  and  slow  transit. 

Next  day,  some  still  sailing,  some  advancing  in 
bateaux,  and  others  marching  by  land,  the  troops 
reached  Fort  Western,  six  miles  further  up  the  river. 
This  outpost  consisted  of  two  blockhouses  and  a 
large  house  or  barrack  one  hundred  feet  long,  enclosed 
with  pickets.  The  headquarters  were  at  Esquire 
Howard's,  "an  exceedingly  hospitable,  opulent,  polite 
family,"  while  the  army  built  itself  a  board  camp,  as 
tents  were  few  and  wood  plenty.  For  three  days  the 
little  army  lay  at  Fort  Western,  getting  men,  provi 
sions  and  bateaux  up  from  Gardinerstown  and  Agry's 
Point,  and  in  making  final  preparations  for  their 
march— at  this,  the  last  place  where  supplies  might 
be  obtained  in  the  least  adequate  to  their  needs. 

The  halt  was  enlivened  by  festivities  of  a  gen 
erous  sort,  for  the  citizens  of  the  vicinity  were  for 
the  most  part  ardent  Whigs,  and  rejoiced  in  the  op 
portunity  of  honoring  a  band  of  patriots  embarked 
in  so  glorious  an  undertaking.  There  is  mention  of 
one  feast  in  particular— a  monstrous  barbecue  of 
which  three  bears,  roasted  whole  in  true  frontier 

*  Arnold's  receipt  to  Major  Reuben  Colburn  for  two  hundred  and 
twenty  "  batteaus,"  is  preserved  at  Washington. 


44          ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

style,  were  the  most  conspicuous  victims.  'Squire 
Howard  and  his  neighbors  contributed  corn,  potatoes, 
and  melons  from  their  gardens,  quintals  of  smoked 
salmon  from  their  storehouses,  and  great  golden 
pumpkin  pies  from  their  kitchens.  As  if  this  were 
not  sufficient,  venison  was  plenty,  and  beef,  pork, 
and  bread  were  added  from  the  commissary's  sup 
plies.  Messengers  were  sent  to  the  local  notables 
-William  Gardiner,  at  Cobosseecontee ;  Major  Col- 
burn  and  'Squire  Oakman,  at  Gardinerstown ;  Judge 
Bowman,  Colonel  Gushing,  Captain  Goodwin,  and 
'Squire  Bridge,  of  Pownalborough.  Social  opportuni 
ties  were  not  over-frequent  on  the  frontier,  and  all 
the  guests  invited  made  haste  to  accept,  and  came 
accompanied  by  their  wives. 

To  the  sound  of  drum  and  fife  the  soldiers  were 
marched  up  to  the  loaded  tables  and  seated  by  the 
masters  of  ceremony,  while  the  guests  and  officers 
sat  by  themselves  at  a  separate  table.  Dr.  Senter* 
and  Dr.  Dearborn,  as  particularly  familiar  with  anat 
omy,  were  selected  to  carve  the  bears,  and  amidst 
the  most  uproarious  jollity  the  feast  proceeded.  At 
the  end  toasts  were  drunk — presumably  in  the  never- 
failing  rum  punch  of  New  England— and  the  enter 
tainment  concluded  amid  patriotic  airs  performed 
upon  drum  and  fife,  and  the  heartiest  good  humor  of 
the  entire  company. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  guests  at  this  al  fresco 

*  Professor  Smith  says  Dr.  Senter  had  a  "mate"  (assistant  surgeon), 
Dr.  Greene,  and  two  assistants,  Barr  and  Jackson;  that  the  former  was 

left  at  Fort  Western  sick. 


THE    ASCENT    OF    THE    KENNEBEC  45 

banquet  was  a  young  half-breed  girl,  Jacataqua  by 
name,  who  seems  to  have  been  in  some  sort  the 
sachem  of  a  settlement  of  Indians  on  Swan  Island. 
Partaking  of  the  best  traits  of  her  mixed  blood— 
French  and  Abenaki— she  is  described  by  those  who 
knew  her  as  possessing  unusual  intelligence,  self-re 
liance  and  winsomeness.  The  fair  visitor  had  already 
conceived  a  romantic  attachment  for  young  Burr,  who 
was  famous  all  his  life  for  his  successes  with  women, 
and  according  to  tradition,  the  two  had  gone  on  sev 
eral  hunting  expeditions  together,  and  had,  in  fact, 
killed  the  three  bears  which  furnished  forth  the  feast 
described  above.  So  genuine  was  the  Indian  girl's 
affection  for  the  young  officer,  in  spite  of  the  brief 
opportunity  offered  for  its  cultivation,  that  she  insisted 
on  accompanying  him  and  his  comrades  to  Quebec. 
So,  at  least,  we  are  told,  though  it  is  by  no  means 
impossible  that  Jacataqua 's  wild  blood,  and  her 
familiarity  with  the  woods  and  streams  which  lay  be 
fore  the  little  army,  would  have  made  the  journey 
not  uncongenial,  even  if  her  gentler  emotions  had  not 
been  stirred  by  the  fascinating  Burr.  She  may  also 
have  found  encouragement  for  her  resolution  in  the 
fact  that  the  wives  of  James  Warner  and  Sergeant 
Grier,  of  the  Pennsylvania  corps,  had  determined  to 
follow  their  husbands  to  Canada,  and,  like  Madame 
Sans-Gene,  share  with  them  whatever  hardships  and 
perils  they  were  forced  to  meet.  We  shall  have  oc 
casion,  later  in  our  narrative,  to  note  more  than  once 
the  constancy  and  fortitude  of  these  brave  women. 


46          ARNOLD'S   EXPEDITION   TO    QUEBEC 

Here,  too,  at  Fort  Western,  occurred  the  first  loss 
of  life— James  McCormick  of  Goodrich 's  company 
killing  Sergeant  Reuben  Bishop  of  Williams',  during 
some  obscure  quarrel.  The  murderer  was  sent  back  to 
Cambridge,  under  guard,  and  died  in  prison  on  the 
Very  day  set  for  his  execution. 

Before  the  expedition  was  ready  to  move  again, 
Denis  Berry  and  Samuel  Getchell,  two  scouts  who  had 
been  sent  forward  at  Washington's  orders  during  the 
previous  month,  to  spy  out  the  road,  made  their  ap 
pearance  and  submitted  their  report  to  Arnold.  They 
had  gone  fifty  or  sixty  miles  up  the  Dead  River,  had 
found  the  road  in  general  well  enough  marked,  the 
carrying  places  in  fair  condition  and  the  water,  though 
shoal,  no  more  so  than  was  inevitable  at  that  season  of 
the  year.  They  also  brought  news  which  might  be  con 
sidered  disquieting,  to  the  effect  that  they  had  met  an 
Indian  who  told  them  that  he  had  been  commissioned 
as  a  spy  by  Governor  Carleton,  with  instructions  to 
warn  Quebec  of  any  hostile  movements  on  the  part  of 
the  colonists  from  the  direction  of  the  Kennebec.  He 
added  that  there  were  more  spies,  both  whites  and 
Indians,  stationed  near  the  headwaters  of  the  Chau- 
diere,  and  having  his  own  suspicions  of  GetchelPs  and 
Berry's  business  in  the  wilderness,  he  had  threatened 
to  convey  instant  information  of  their  presence  there 
to  Quebec  if  they  pushed  any  further  up  the  river. 

Arnold,  however,  seems  to  have  been  little  dis 
turbed  by  this  intelligence,  for  he  reported  to  Wash 
ington  that  the  scouts  had  seen  "only  one  Indian 


THE    ASCENT    OF    THE    KENNEBEC  47 

(Nattarius),  a  native  of  Norridgewock,  a  noted  vil 
lain,  and  very  little  credit,  I  am  told,  is  to  be  given 
to  his  information. ' '  Far  from  regarding  the  presence 
of  Indian  spies  along  his  proposed  road  as  any 
excuse  for  hesitation  or  delay,  he  hurried  forward  two 
well-equipped  scouting  parties.  One  under  Lieuten 
ant  Church,  consisting  of  seven  men,  a  surveyor  and 
guide,  was  to  take  the  exact  course  and  distances  of 
the  Dead  Eiver;  the  other  party,  under  Lieutenant 
Archibald  Steele,  of  Smith's  company,  was  to  ascer 
tain  and  mark  the  paths  used  by  Indians  at  the 
numerous  carrying  places  in  the  wilderness,  and  also 
to  ascertain  the  course  of  the  River  Chaudiere,  which, 
as  we  have  seen,  runs  from  the  Height  of  Land 
toward  Quebec. 

These  scouts,  traveling  rapidly  in  one  small  and 
one  large  birch-bark  canoe  and  leaving  Fort  Western 
before  the  main  body,  were  expected  to  perform  their 
duty  with  great  celerity,  and  to  report  to  Arnold  at 
the  Twelve  Mile  carrying  place  on  the  Kennebec, 
about  thirty  miles  above  Norridgewock. 

September  25,  Captain  Morgan,  with  Smith's  and 
Hendricks's  companies  of  "Riflers"  constituting  the 
first  division,  embarked  in  bateaux,  the  river  not  being 
further  navigable,  except  for  such  flat-bottomed  boats, 
with  orders  to  proceed  with  all  speed  to  the  Twelve 
Mile  carrying  place,  and  to  follow  the  footsteps  of 
the  exploring  parties,  examining  the  country  along  the 
route,  freeing  the  streams  of  all  impediments  to  their 
navigation,  and  removing  all  obstacles  from  the  road: 


48          ARNOLD'S   EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

in  short,  to  take  such  measures  as  would  facilitate 
the  passage  of  the  rest  of  the  army.  The  following 
day  the  second  division,  under  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Greene,  with  Major  Bigelow  and  Captains  Thayer's, 
Topham's  and  Hubbard's  companies  of  musketeers, 
also  took  to  their  bateaux  and  followed  the  riflemen, 
and  on  the  27th  the  third  division,  under  Major  Meigs 
and  consisting  of  Hanchett's,  Dearborn's,  Ward's 
and  Goodrich 's  companies,  in  its  turn  took  up  the 
march.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Enos,  with  Williams', 
McCobb's,  Scott's  and  Colburn's  companies,  brought 
up  the  rear. 

The  bateaux  had  been  "hastily  built  in  the  most 
slight  manner  of  green  pine,"  and  though  not  very 
large  were  very  heavy.  When  loaded  with  provisions, 
ammunition  and  camp  equipage,  it  required  the  utmost 
exertions  of  four  men,  two  at  the  bow  and  two  in 
the  stern,  to  haul  and  push  them  against  the  current 
in  shallow  water.  Sixteen  bateaux  were  set  off  to 
each  company.  There  were  fourteen  companies,  there 
fore  the  start  was  made  with  two  hundred  and  twenty- 
four  or  more  bateaux. 

The  advantages  of  the  formation  above  referred  to 
were  very  conspicuous  on  the  march,  as  the  rear  divi 
sions  not  only  had  paths  cut  for  them,  and  the  rivers 
made  passable  for  their  boats,  but  encampments  cleared 
and  bough  huts  ready  made.  On  the  other  hand,  since 
the  baggage  and  provisions  were  distributed  according 
to  the  difficulties  which  each  division  must  encounter, 
many  of  the  first  companies  took  only  two  or  three 


THE    ASCENT    OF    THE    KENNEBEC  49 

barrels  of  flour  with  several  casks  of  bread;  while  the 
companies  in  the  last  division  had  not  less  that  four 
teen  of  flour  and  ten  of  bread. 

The  first  day's  journey  was  not  difficult,  but  as  the 
men  pushed  on  they  found  the  current  much  stronger. 
As  they  approached  the  Three  Mile  Falls,  below  Fort 
Halifax,  the  crews  of  the  bateaux  were  obliged  con 
tinually  to  spring  out  into  the  river  and  wade— often 
up  to  their  chins  in  water,  most  of  the  time  to  their 
waists.  At  the  foot  of  the  falls  a  landing  was  made 
and  the  provisions  and  bateaux  carried  around  the 
rapids.  Here,  and  at  all  the  other  carrying  places  the 
boats  had  first  to  be  unloaded  and  carried  across  on 
the  shoulders  of  the  men,  with  the  assistance  of  a  few 
oxen  (the  last  of  which,  however,  were  slaughtered  for 
food  before  the  Dead  River  was  reached).  The  ammu 
nition,  kegs  of  powder  and  bullets,  packages  of  flint 
and  steel,  extra  muskets  and  rifles— besides  a  musket 
for  each  soldier,  axes,  kegs  of  nails  and  of  pitch,  and 
carpenters'  tools  for  repairing  the  bateaux  and  other 
purposes,  had  to  be  packed  across  on  the  men's  backs, 
for  they  had  no  pack  animals.  Besides  all  this,  casks 
of  bread  and  pork,  barrels  of  flour,  bags  of  meal  and 
of  salt,  the  iron  or  tin  kettles  and  cook's  kit,  tents, 
oars,  poles  and  general  camp  equipage  and  extra 
clothing  (of  the  latter  there  was  far  too  little),  all 
must  be  laboriously  gotten  across  each  carrying  place, 
repacked  and  reloaded  in  the  boats  and  floated  on 
the  river  against  the  impetuous  current. 

6 


50          ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

On  the  28th,  Arnold,  who  had  remained  at  Fort 
Western  superintending  the  embarkation  and  attend 
ing  to  the  return  of  a  few  soldiers  already  invalided 
to  Cambridge,  entered  his  birch  canoe  with  two  In 
dians,  and  progressing  swiftly  in  comparison  with  the 
loaded  bateaux  and  the  footmen  of  his  army,  soon 
arrived  at  Vassalborough,  eight  miles  above  Fort 
Western.  Here  the  canoe,  which  leaked,  was  changed 
for  a  periagua,  and  his  progress  continued  till  within 
four  miles  of  Fort  Halifax,  where  he  lodged  for  the 
night. 

The  first  three  divisions  had,  on  the  evening  of 
September  29,  passed  Fort  Halifax  and  the  first  carry 
around  Ticonic  Falls.  That  same  morning  the  fourth 
division,  delayed  in  collecting  provisions  and  finishing 
bateaux,  left  Colburn's  shipyard.  Though  the  leaves 
were  already  falling,  the  weather  had  been  up  to  this 
time  that  of  Indian  summer,  and  most  of  the  men 
were  in  the  best  of  health  and  spirits.  Having  ex 
pected  hard  and  rough  work,  they  breasted  the  seem 
ingly  impossible  with  lightness  and  good  humor.  The 
keen,  bracing  air  of  the  backwoods  incited  to  exercise 
and  competition;  the  shining  river  with  its  ever- 
changing  channels,  rocky  and  boulder-strewn,  bor 
dered  with  forest  and  meadow,  lured  them  into  for- 
getfulness  of  the  bitter  northern  winter,  yet  to  be 
endured.  Jokes  and  jeers  were  the  only  consola 
tion  for  doubters  and  laggards;  cheers  and  shouts  of 
applause  the  reward  of  energy  and  perseverance. 
But,  in  spite  of  every  effort,  Meigs's  division  made 
only  seven  miles  on  the  30th,  pulling,  shoving,  haul- 


Sl 


W 


THE    ASCENT    OF    THE    KENNEBEC  51 

ing  andf  poling  most  of  the  day,  waist-deep  in  the 
water,  as  Arnold  records,  "like  some  sort  of  amphib 
ious  animals." 

Their  young  commander,  speeding  up  the  stream 
in  his  periagua,  caught  up  with  them  about  ten 
o'clock  that  morning  just  as  they  were  crossing  the 
carry  around  Ticonic  Falls,  above  Fort  Halifax.  He 
lunched  at  eleven  o'clock  at  one  Crosier 's  and  then 
hired  a  team  and  carried  his  baggage  overland,  thus 
avoiding  the  "Five  Mile  ripples"  above  the  falls, 
through  which  the  bateaux  crews  were  toiling.  ,  At 
five  o'clock  he  struck  the  river  again  and  proceeded 
up  it  a  mile  and  a  half,  camping  with  the  division 
of  Major  Meigs,  which  had  consumed  the  remainder 
of  the  day  in  laboriously  forcing  their  bateaux  over 
the  ripples. 

Colonel  Greene's  division,  after  pushing  through 
these  long  stretches  of  ripples  below  and  above 
Ticonic  Falls,  had  found  that  the  river  widened  and, 
like  a  broad  blue  ribbon,  led  them  for  eighteen  miles 
through  a  fertile  country  between  banks  still  verdant 
with  the  clothing  of  summer,  though  the  low  hills 
inland  wore  the  solemn  colors  of  fast-advancing  au 
tumn.  The  current  was  quick  and  the  water  very 
shoal  in  many  places,  but  there  were  no  other  obsta 
cles  to  delay  them.  They  encamped  only  a  few  miles 
in  advance  of  Meigs,  at  a  place  known  as  Canaan, 
on  the  west  side  of  the  stream  three  or  four  miles 
from  the  next  carry,  at  Skowhegan  Falls. 

Here    the   river   tumbled   twenty-three    feet   over 


52          ARNOLD'S   EXPEDITION   TO    QUEBEC 

ledges  of  rock,  divided  into  two  cataracts  by  a  precip 
itous  forest-crowned  island.  This  obstacle  so  retarded 
the  current  that,  as  the  stream  found  escape,  it  thun 
dered  its  rejoicings  with  a  deafening  roar  and  rushed 
on  for  several  hundred  yards  through  a  very  deep 
and  narrow  gorge  with  all  the  abandon  of  a  mountain 
torrent.  The  carry  was  a  most  difficult  one,  for  the 
heavy  bateaux  had  to  be  hoisted  and  dragged  up  the 
steep  rocky  banks  while  the  men  struggled  in  the 
fierce  rush  of  the  swirling  current.  Meanwhile,  to  add 
to  their  discomforts,  the  weather  became  cold  and 
raw,  and  the  wet  and  weary  soldiers  were  forced  to 
build  huge  fires  to  warm  themselves  and  dry  their 
dripping  clothing.  On  the  night  of  September  30  it 
was  so  cold  that  the  soaked  uniforms  could  not  be  com 
pletely  dried,  and  froze  stiff  even  near  the  fires,  the 
men  being  obliged  to  sleep  in  them  in  this  condition. 

By  this  time  the  bateaux  had  revealed  their  hur 
ried  and  defective  construction,  and  had  begun  to 
leak  so  badly  that  the  crews  were  always  wet,  whether 
wading  in  the  water  or  standing  in  the  boats,  and  of 
course  the  arms,  ammunition  and  baggage  which  were 
stowed  in  them  likewise  suffered.  Many  were  little 
better  than  common  rafts,  and  ''could  we,"  writes  one 
of  Arnold's  men,  "have  then  come  within  reach  of  the 
villains  who  constructed  them,  they  would  have  fully 
experienced  the  effects  of  our  vengeance.  It  is  no  bold 
assertion  to  say  that  they  are  accessory  to  the  death  of 
our  brethren  who  expired  in  the  wilderness.  May 
Heaven  reward  them  according  to  their  deeds. ' ' 


THE    ASCENT    OF    THE    KENNEBEC  53 

The  bateaux  crews  were  divided  into  two  squads  of 
four  men  each,  the  relief  marching  along  the  shore. 
Only  four  men  at  one  time  could  conveniently  carry 
the  bateau  when  it  became  necessary  to  do  so.  When 
the  boat  grounded  at  a  carrying  place  its  crew  of 
four  men  sprang  into  the  water  beside  it,  and  having 
inserted  two  hand-spikes  under  the  flat  bottom,  one 
at  either  end,  raised  the  boat  to  their  shoulders  and 
staggered  with  it  up  the  bank.  The  relief  rendered 
such  assistance  as  it  could  in  lightening  the  boat 
load,  clearing  the  path,  and  helping  the  bearers  when 
a  more  difficult  obstacle  than  usual  intervened. 

When  rapids  were  encountered  it  was  often  found  im 
possible  to  pole  the  clumsy  craft  against  the  swift  cur 
rent,  and  the  crews  were  obliged  to  take  to  the  water, 
* '  some  to  the  painters  and  others  heaving  at  the  stern. ' ' 
The  water  was  in  general  waist-high,  and  the  river 
bottom  very  slippery  and  uneven;  the  crews  were 
often  carried  off  their  feet  and  obliged  to  swim  to 
shoaler  water.  Those  who  could  not  swim  had  some 
times  very  narrow  escapes  from  being  drowned.  Even 
with  their  united  efforts,  the  stream  was  so  vio 
lent  as  many  times  to  drive  them  back  "after  ten 
or  twelve  fruitless  attempts  in  pulling  and  heaving 
with  the  whole  boat's  crew."  Every  night  found  the 
men  exhausted  with  toil,  weak  and  shivering  from 
cold,  hunger  and  fatigue.  But  every  bright  and  brac 
ing  autumn  morning  seemed  to  revive  anew  their 
energy  and  courage. 


54          ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

September  30  and  October  1,  the  second  division 
consumed  in  the  herculean  task  of  passing  between 
the  Falls  of  Skowhegan,  and  in  ascending  "Bumba- 
zee's  rips,"  seven  miles  to  Norridgewock,  which  they 
reached  at  noon.  The  rifle  division  were  only  one 
day's  journey  in  advance  of  them.  Greene  encamped 
on  the  west  side  of  the  river.  Arnold  passed  the 
night  of  the  1st  of  October  at  a  certain  Widow  War 
ren's,  about  five  miles  above  Skowhegan  Falls.  The 
next  morning  he  overtook  Morgan  with  the  first  divi 
sion,  which  had  just  got  its  baggage  over  a  steep 
carrying  place— longer  than  any  yet  encountered — 
at  Norridgewock  Falls,  and  encamped  close  by  "on  a 
broad  flat  rock,  the  most  suitable  place"  they  could 
find.  They  had  now  left  Fort  Western,  their  weak 
base  of  supplies,  fifty  miles  behind  them. 

October  2,  pressing  hard  upon  the  second  division, 
the  third  encamped  on  the  west  side  of  the  river, 
opposite  the  island  carry  at  Skowhegan  Falls,  and  on 
the  3d  reached  Norridgewock,  the  last  frontier  settle 
ment  on  the  Kennebec,  where  in  1724  an  expedition 
from  New  England  had  massacred  the  French  Jesuit 
missionary,  Sebastian  Eale,  and  his  whole  congre 
gation  of  Indian  converts.  The  vestiges  of  an  Indian 
fort  and  a  Roman  Catholic  chapel,  some  intrench- 
ments,  and  a  covered  way  through  the  bank  of  the 
river,  made  for  convenience  in  getting  water,  were 
still* to  be  seen. 

Several  days  were  passed  in  getting  boats,  provi 
sions  and  ammunition  across  this  long  and  difficult 


THE    ASCENT    OF    THE    KENNEBEC  55 

carry  (more  than  a  mile  in  length),  around  the  Falls 
of  Norridgewock.  Much  valuable  time  was  also  spent 
in  caulking  and  repairing  the  bateaux,  which,  merci 
lessly  handled  by  the  rocks  and  rapids,  were  in 
almost  useless  condition.  At  length  the  expedition 
was  ready  to  move  again,  and  on  October  4  the  lead 
ing  companies  began  to  push  forward  toward  the 
next  carrying  place  at  Carritunk  Falls,  eighteen  miles 
above.  They  found  the  country  around  them  grow 
ing  more  and  more  hilly,  the  forest  more  continuous, 
and  the  river  itself  dangerously  shallow.  Those  who 
followed  the  boats  on  foot  could  scarcely  tramp  fifty 
yards  through  the  now  almost  leafless  thickets  with 
out  coming  upon  moose-tracks,  and  on  one  occasion 
at  least  the  riflemen  feasted  on  a  fine  young  bull 
brought  down  by  one  of  their  number. 

Carritunk  Falls — sometimes  called  the  Devil's  Falls 
—are  fifteen  feet  in  pitch,  but  the  portage  was  only  of 
fifty  rods,  though  very  rough.  The  river  was  here 
confined  between  rocks  which  lay  in  piles  forty  rods 
in  length  on  each  side;  but  the  water  was  so  shoal 
that  the  men  became  much  exhausted  with  constantly 
lifting  and  hauling  the  boats.  This  point  the  rifle 
men  reached  October  4;  the  fourth  division,  or  rear 
guard,  was  four  days  behind.  There  was  no  delay 
here,  each  division  pushing  on  again  as  soon  as  the 
portage  was  crossed. 

Mountains  now  began  to  appear  on  each  side  of 
them,  high  and  level  on  the  tops,  and  well  wooded; 
each  with  a  snow-cap.  The  highest,  far  distant, 


56          ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

loomed  to  the  westward  across  a  dismal  landscape  of 
gloomy  forest,  whitened  with  wintry  frosts,  and  seen 
through  drizzling  rain  and  river  mists  as  chilling  as 
the  icy  water  in  which  the  bateaux  crews  waded.  Dis 
comfort  and  hardship  increased  with  each  advance  into 
the  wilderness.  For  three  or  four  days  it  had  rained 
a  part,  at  least,  of  each  day  and  night.  It  had  been 
a  long,  dry  summer,  and  nature  was  restoring  the 
balance.  From  the  date  of  their  leaving  Norridge- 
wock— the  last  outpost  of  civilization— the  elements 
seemed  to  combine  to  cool  the  ardor  and  dampen  the 
spirits  of  men  and  officers.  Lagging  and  straggling 
from  sickness,  laziness  and  wilfulness  made  their 
ominous  appearance,  and  were  checked  with  difficulty. 

The  commissariat  also  had  its  misfortunes.  A 
supply  of  dried  codfish  which  had  been  received  after 
leaving  Fort  Western  had  been  stored  in  the  con 
fusion,  loose  in  the  bottoms  of  the  bateaux.  This  was 
washed  about  in  the  fresh  water  leakage  until  it  was 
all  spoiled.  Many  barrels  of  dry  bread  too,  and  some 
of  peas,  having  been  packed  in  defective  casks, 
absorbed  water  until  they  burst,  and  their  contents 
had  to  be  condemned.  The  rations  of  the  soldiers 
were  thus  already  reduced  to  pork  and  flour.  A  few 
barrels  of  salt  beef  remained,  but  it  proved  unwhole 
some  as  well  as  unpalatable. 

Nevertheless,  most  of  the  men  showed  undiminished 
spirit  and  pressed  forward  bravely,  some  forcing  the 
boats  up  the  swift  but  shallow  channels  of  the  river, 
others  marching  along  its  rough  and  thickly  overgrown 


THE    ASCENT    OF    THE    KENNEBEC  57 

banks.  By  the  8th  the  riflemen  had  reached  the 
Twelve  Mile  carrying  place,  where  they  were  to  leave 
the  Kennebec  for  its  tributary  the  Dead  Biver,  and 
encamped  there.  A  large  brook,  which  flows  out  of 
the  first  lake  on  this  carry,  poured  into  the  Kennebec, 
just  above  their  tents.  Four  hundred  yards  distant 
a  large  mountain,  in  shape  a  sugar  loaf,  appeared  to 
rise  out  of  the  river,  and  turn  it  sharply  eastward. 
All  about  them  stood  the  forest  primeval,  dark,  silent 
and  mysterious.  Under  a  leaden  sky  the  north  wind 
tossed  the  heavy  boughs  of  the  evergreens,  sent 
showers  of  dying  leaves  from  the  half-naked  oaks  and 
maples,  and  slowly  swayed  the  taller  pines  and  beeches, 
which  creaked  and  groaned  in  dismal  lamentation  at 
the  touch  of  this  forerunner  of  the  winter.  The  rain 
still  continued  to  fall  with  infrequent  intermission. 
The  next  day  Colonel  Greene's  division  came  up,  and 
two  days  later  the  third  division  made  its  appear 
ance  and  joined  its  comrades  who  had  preceded  it 
in  clearing  the  faint  trails  over  which  the  boats 
must  be  taken. 

The  physical  condition  of  the  men,  who  were  now 
but  on  the  threshold  of  the  most  difficult  and  perilous 
stage  of  their  journey,  had  begun  to  show  serious 
deterioration  as  the  natural  result  of  the  unfavorable 
weather.  Cases  of  dysentery  and  other  camp  evils, 
which  the  bracing  air  might  have  cured,  were  aug 
mented  by  long  exposure  in  the  water  during  the  day 
and  the  cold,  marrow-eating  river-mists  of  night. 
Invalids  were  now  frequently  sent  back  along  the  line 
to  the  rear  division,  which,  added  to  its  greater  load 

7 


58          ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION   TO    QUEBEC 

of  provision,  had  to  bear  the  full  weight  of  every 
tale  of  woe.  Nature,  whose  forest  retreats  and  fast 
nesses  the  patriots  were  so  boldly  invading,  had  now 
turned  her  face  from  them,  and  taking  advantage  of 
their  incessant  strain  and  labor,  with  her  champions, 
storm  and  cold,  began  ruthlessly  to  thin  their  ranks. 

On  October  12,  when  Lieutenant-Colonel  Enos  with 
the  fourth  division  arrived  at  the  Twelve  Mile  carry 
ing  place,  out  of  the  eleven  hundred  men  who  left 
Cambridge,  the  detachment  could  now  muster  only 
nine  hundred  and  fifty.  The  loss  had  been  chiefly 
occasioned  by  sickness  and  desertion,  for  there  had 
been  only  one  death— that  of  Reuben  Bishop.  But 
Captain  Williams  was  so  ill  with  dysentery  that 
his  life  was  despaired  of.  Arnold,  meanwhile,  left 
Norridgewock  on  the  9th  and  encamped  with  Captain 
McCobb  that  night  on  an  island  within  two  miles  of 
Carritunk  Falls.  On  the  llth  he  arrived  at  the 
Twelve  Mile  carry,  and  received  from  Lieutenant 
Church,  who  had,  according  to  his  orders,  explored 
the  route  as  far  as  the  Dead  River,  his  report  and 
survey. 


•H 


CHAPTER   V 


THE  MAECH  INTO  THE  WILDERNESS 


HE  Twelve  Mile  carrying  place  embraced 
in  reality  four  distinct  portages :  The  first 
lay  W.  N.  W.,  three  and  one-quarter  miles 
along  the  side  of  a  high  hill,  through  the 
forest.  It  was  then  marked  by  a  well- 
worn  Indian  trail  and  led  to  a  pond,  now  called  Big 
Carry  pond,  which  is  one  mile  wide  as  the  army  crossed 
it,  though  the  trail  must  have  borne  further  to  the  north 
than  the  existing  one,  which  now  reaches  the  pond  at 
Washburn's  Sporting  Camp.  At  this  pond  Arnold 
relates  in  his  journal  "the  people  caught  a  prodigious 
number  of  very  fine  salmon  trout,  nothing  being  more 
common  than  a  man  taking  eight  or  ten  dozen  in  an 
hour's  time,  which  generally  weighed  half  a  pound 
apiece."  There  was  next  a  carry  of  half  a  mile  and 
twenty  rods,  almost  due  west,  to  Little  Carry  pond,  a 
low-lying  and  marshy  lake,  from  the  extremity  of  which 
a  long,  narrow  and  swampy  creek,  overhung  with  gray 
moss  festooned  from  dead  and  dying  spruce  and  cedar 
trees,  reached  out  towards  the  next  carry. 

Having  passed  this  pond,  the  soldiers  again  un 
loaded  the  bateaux  and  crossed  a  third  portage, 
nearly  a  mile  and  a  half  in  length,  bearing  W.  by  N., 
to  a  much  larger  pond,  now  called  West  pond.  Their 

59 


CO          ARNOLD'S   EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

landing  place  on  the  farther  side,  if  local  tradi 
tion  is  to  be  credited,  was  the  little  bay,  still  called 
"Arnold's  Cove."  This  pond  was  nine  miles  in  cir 
cumference  and  surrounded  with  cedar  timber.  The 
Indian  trail  now  ascended  sharply  from  the  water,  and 
the  bateaux  had  again  to  be  lifted  on  the  shoulders 
of  the  men  and  borne  over  the  northeastern  spur  of 
a  snow-crowned  mountain,  which  flung  its  gloomy 
shadow  half  across  the  lake.  The  distance  across  this 
carry  was  two  and  three-quarter  miles  and  sixty  rods, 
the  course  W.  N.  W.  At  the  end  of  this  last  and 
most  difficult  portage,  the  last  mile  of  which  lay 
across  a  miry  and  treacherous  bog,  the  Dead  Eiver 
was  at  length  reached. 

It  proved  impossible  for  the  three  companies  of 
riflemen  to  finish  the  work  assigned  to  them  before 
the  other  divisions  arrived.  If,  on  leaving  Fort  West 
ern,  they  could  have  been  transported  by  magic  to  the 
point  where  their  labors  began,  the  time  given  them 
to  clear  a  passage  for  the  army  would  hardly  have 
sufficed  for  them  to  cut  their  way  through  to  the  first 
of  the  three  ponds.  It  was  necessary,  therefore,  for 
the  whole  detachment  to  assist  in  the  task  of  swamp 
ing  a  passable  road  through  unbroken  forests,  where 
scarcely  so  much  as  an  imperfectly  blazed  trail  could 
be  found. 

What  strange  and  lively  scenes  were  now  to  be 
witnessed  along  this  Twelve  Mile  carry,  a  stretch  of 
sixteen  miles  of  lake  and  forest!  The  stalwart  pio 
neers  of  Morgan's,  Hendricks's  and  Smith's  companies 


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THE   MARCH    INTO    THE    WILDERNESS        61 

in  long  advancing  files,  struck  to  right  and  left  at  the 
giants  of  the  forest,  hacking  with  tomahawk  and 
hunting-knife,  and  hewing  with  axes  till  the  great 
trees  swayed,  tottered  and  fell  groaning  to  the  ground ; 
or,  supported  for  a  moment  by  the  lesser  trees 
that  stood,  like  men  at  arms,  in  serried  ranks  about 
them,  crashed  down  at  last,  carrying  many  of  their 
feeble  retainers  to  a  common  ruin,  while  the  forest- 
covered  hillsides  reechoed  with  the  din.  The  lusty 
young  provincials  who  followed,  well  schooled  in  such 
woodcraft,  shouted  and  sang  with  hearty  good  will, 
as  they  dragged  out  the  dismembered  trunks  and  top 
pled  them  into  the  underbrush  by  the  side  of  the 
path.  The  windfalls  and  bushes  were  quickly  cleared 
away  by  the  next  squad  of  stout  New  England  soldiery, 
and  the  sky  looked  down  through  the  dense  forest, 
for  the  first  time  perhaps  in  centuries,  upon  a  broad 
arrow  struck  through  its  very  heart,  only  stumps  and 
boulders  remaining  to  be  conquered.  Beside  the  lakes 
and  morasses,  Nature,  in  the  insidious  ambush  of  dis 
ease,  had  won;  on  the  field  in  open  fight,  step  by 
step,  mile  by  mile,  she  must  yield. 

Here  and  there  we  may  imagine  a  solitary  sentinel 
with  long  rifle  and  belted  tomahawk  leaning  against 
a  tree,  keen-eyed  as  a  hawk  for  the  lurking  Indian, 
the  distant  calls  and  shouts  of  his  toiling  comrades 
wafted  toward  him  on  the  soft,  sweet-scented  air  of 
the  dense  forest.  Now  and  then  a  line  of  men  bend 
ing  under  heavy  boats  winds  up  a  steep  incline  of  the 
new-made  road,  their  shoulders  still  wet  from  their 
dripping  burdens,  lifted  so  recently  from  the  waters 


62          ARNOLD'S   EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

of  one  of  the  lakes.  These  men  are  followed  by 
others  bent  double  under  every  variety  of  camp  equip 
ment,  stores  and  supplies  of  war.  There  is  no  patience 
whatever  with  shirking.  Officers  work  side  by  side 
with  their  men,  sharing  their  food,  their  luck  and  their 
toil.  All  are  equals,  till  the  line  of  march  is  re-formed 
at  the  other  end  of  the  carry. 

It  was  thought  worth  while  to  try  a  yoke  of  oxen 
to  haul  the  bateaux  across  the  portage,  but  it  very 
soon  become  apparent  that  the  oxen  themselves  were 
as  cumbersome  to  get  over  pine  and  cedar  stumps, 
two  or  three  feet  in  diameter,  as  the  boats  were,  and 
the  attempt  was  abandoned.  Two  were  driven  singly 
around  the  pond,  to  be  slaughtered  on  the  Dead  Eiver, 
and  their  struggles  through  the  bush,  over  windfalls 
and  between  thickly  grown  tree  trunks  were  pitiful  to 
witness.  Moose  tracks  were  noticed  at  every  turn, 
and  four  moose  had  already  been  killed  by  the  rifle 
men.  With  this  supply  of  fresh  meat  and  plenty  of 
trout,  the  hearts  of  the  first  division  were  kept  up 
to  accord  somewhat  with  the  fullness  of  their  stomachs. 

For  five  days  Major  Meigs,  with  a  detail  of  ten 
men  from  each  of  his  companies,  superintended  the 
passage  of  troops  across  the  Twelve  Mile  carry  and 
the  building  of  a  blockhouse  between  the  first  and 
second  ponds  for  the  reception  of  the  sick,  who  had 
now  increased  to  a  formidable  number.  Another 
blockhouse  had  been  already  erected  on  the  Kennebec 
side  of  the  first  portage.  The  first  blockhouse  be 
came  known  as  Fort  Meigs  and  the  second  was  chris- 


THE    MARCH    INTO    THE    WILDERNESS        63 

tened  "Arnold's  Hospital,"  and  was  no  sooner  finished 
than  filled. 

Rheumatism,  dysentery,  malaria  and  other  ail 
ments,  the  inevitable  consequences  of  the  hardships 
and  exposure  which  the  men  endured,  threatened  al 
ready  to  destroy  the  effectiveness  of  the  force. 

While  the  men  were  breaking  the  road  across 
these  portages,  three  emaciated  and  exhausted  men 
of  the  Chaudiere  scouting  party,  Lieutenant  Steele, 
Getchell  and  (Jesse)  Wheeler,  coming  from  the  west 
ward,  staggered  into  camp.  At  the  peril  of  their  lives 
and  with  the  utmost  difficulty,  they  had  fulfilled  their 
orders,  as  they  thought,  and  investigated  and  spotted 
the  trails  leading  to  the  Chaudiere,  but  having  wrecked 
both  canoes  and  lost  or  exhausted  their  provisions, 
they  had  left  two  of  their  party  several  miles  up  the 
Dead  River,  too  weak  from  lack  of  food  to  retreat 
further  towards  succor.  They  brought  the  discourag 
ing  news  that  the  course  of  the  Dead  River  was  nearer 
eighty  than  thirty  miles— not  counting  an  unmapped 
chain  of  lakes  at  its  head.  They  had  expected  to 
meet  the  Abenaki  on  their  fall  hunt,  with  whom  they 
had  been  instructed  to  make  an  alliance,  though  they 
had  other  orders  to  capture  or  kill  that  chief  called 
Natanis  or  ' '  Nattarius, "  who  had  represented  himself 
to  Getchell  and  Berry  earlier  in  the  fall  as  a  spy  in 
Governor  Carleton's  employ.  They  had  seen  nothing 
of  the  Indians,  but  had  found  the  wigwam  of  Natanis 
of  the  banks  of  the  Dead  River.  His  nest  was  warm, 
but  the  wily  bird  had  flown. 


64          ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

A  relief  party  was  despatched  at  once  in  search 
of  Boyd  and  Henry,  the  missing  members  of  Lieu 
tenant  Steele's  detachment.  It  never  reached  them, 
but  a  few  days  later  the  two  men  came  stumbling 
into  the  camp  at  the  further  end  of  the  carry,  ema 
ciated  almost  beyond  recognition,  their  lives  due  to 
nothing  but  the  desperate  and  almost  superhuman 
energy  with  which  they  had  struggled  against  hunger, 
fatigue  and  a  hostile  and  savage  wilderness. 

As  soon  as  Lieutenant  Steele  was  able  to  under 
take  the  duty,  he  and  Lieutenant  Church  were  again 
ordered  forward  with  twenty  men  and  a  surveyor  to 
clear  the  portages  as  far  as  Chaudiere  pond  (now 
know  as  Lake  Megantic),  and  to  explore  the  Chau 
diere  Eiver  itself  as  far  as  the  nearest  Canadian 
settlements. 

By  October  16  the  little  army  was  at  last  across 
the  carry  and  encamped  on  the  banks  of  the  Dead 
River.  The  men  were  thoroughly  exhausted  by  the 
five  days  of  unremitting  toil  they  had  undergone,  and 
especially  by  the  crossing  of  the  almost  impenetrable 
spruce  and  cedar  swamp  which  covered  the  last  mile 
of  the  last  portage.  Through  this  the  soldiers  had 
plunged  and  staggered  as  best  they  might,  weighed 
down  with  their  ponderous  loads,  their  legs  entangled 
by  the  thick  moss  and  bushes  with  which  the  bog 
was  overgrown,  often  struggling  knee  deep  in  filthy 
and  tenacious  mire.  Some  had  been  forced  to  spend 
a  night  there,  camped  in  mud  and  stagnant  water, 
amid  a  tangle  of  bushes,  rushes  and  rotting  tree 
trunks. 


THE    MARCH    INTO    THE    WILDERNESS        65 

But  in  spite  of  these  hardships,  more  severe, 
doubtless,  than  the  men  had  been  led  to  expect, 
complaints  were  few  and  there  was  much  cheery  and 
buoyant  fortitude.  All  well  knew  the  magnitude  of 
the  undertaking  for  which  they  had  volunteered,  and 
that  it  was  not  only  for  the  service  of  their  country, 
but  offered  signal  opportunities  for  honor,  glory  and 
advancement.  Their  officers  left  nothing  unsaid  or 
undone  that  could  hearten  them  during  their  inces 
sant  fatigues.  The  blows  of  a  whip  could  not  have 
extorted  such  work  from  abject  slaves  as  these  brave 
fellows  submitted  to  without  a  murmur. 

Colonel  Arnold  spent  these  days  on  the  carry  in 
despatching  scouts  to  the  front,  and  expresses  to 
General  Washington,  to  General  Schuyler,  and  to 
friends  in  Quebec,  and  in  attempting  to  advance  his 
base  of  supplies  from  Fort  Halifax  and  Norridge- 
wock  to  the  carry. 

To  Washington  he  wrote  hopefully  that  he  "made 
no  doubt  of  reaching  the  Chaudiere  in  eight  or  ten 
days,  the  greatest  difficulty  being  already  passed." 
Provisions,  such  as  they  were,  sufficient  for  twenty- 
five  days,  remained,  enough,  as  he  estimated,  to  per 
mit  them  to  return  to  the  Twelve  Mile  carry,  if  for 
any  reason  the  advance  became  unwise  or  impossible. 
There  the  commissary  of  the  expedition  had  been  in 
structed  to  establish  a  depot  of  supplies  brought  up 
from  the  Kennebec  country  below.  The  "tardiness" 
of  the  march  (for  the  expedition  was  several  days 
behind  its  schedule),  he  explained  as  necessary  owing 


66          ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

to  the  unforeseen  difficulties  of  the  road;  the  spirit 
and  industry  of  both  officers  and  men  he  reported 
as  excellent. 

To  two  friendly  Indians,  named  Eneas  and  Sa- 
battis,  he  entrusted  a  letter  addressed  to  "John 
Manier,*  Esq.,  or  Captain  William  Gregory,  or  Mr. 
John  Maynard,  Quebec."  In  substance  this  letter  in 
formed  his  correspondents  that  Arnold  was  on  the 
Dead  River  about  one  hundred  and  sixty  miles  from 
Quebec  "with  about  two  thousand  men,"  the  number 
he  thought  he  might  muster,  counting  Indians  and 
Canadians,  before  he  arrived  at  Quebec,  and  that  the 
design  was  to  cooperate  with  General  Schuyler  and 
to  assist  the  Canadians  in  resisting  Great  Britain's 
unjust  and  arbitrary  measures.  It  also  asked  whether 
any  notice  of  Arnold's  departure  from  Cambridge 
had  been  received  at  Quebec,  and  if  any  advices  had 
reached  them  from  General  Schuyler.  The  letter 
concluded  with  a  request  for  information  as  to  the 
number  of  troops  and  vessels  at  Quebec,  and  begged 
that  some  gentleman  of  Arnold's  acquaintance  might 
be  induced  to  come  from  Quebec  to  meet  him.  En 
closed  in  this  letter  was  another  for  General  Schuyler, 
which  these  gentlemen  were  desired  to  forward,  briefly 
stating  his  progress  towards  Quebec,  and  asking  for 
intelligence  and  advices  from  him. 

Arnold  has  been  severely  criticised  for  intrusting 
such  important  communications  to  Indians,  for  these 
letters  never  reached  the  persons  to  whom  they  were 

*  This  should  be  Mercier,  as  Lt.  Gov.  Cramahe  spells  it  so  in  his 
copy  of  the  letter  sent  to  London  (Smith's  Arnold's  March). 


THE    MARCH    INTO    THE    WILDERNESS         67 

addressed,  and,  being  intercepted,  fell  into  the  hands 
of  Cramahe,  the  lieutenant-governor  of  Canada,  in 
command  at  Quebec  during  Governor  Carleton's  ab 
sence  at  Montreal.  Through  him  they  gave  the 
people  of  Quebec  their  first  intimation  of  the  ap 
proach  of  the  provincial  detachment.  Eneas  was 
subsequently  recognized  among  the  Indians  under  his 
brother  the  chief  Natanis,  who  met  the  army  at  Sar- 
tigan,  and  later  at  Quebec.  Although  he  is  said  to 
have  protested  that  he  was  captured,  there  seems  to 
be  little  room  for  doubt  that,  if  this  was  true,  he  was 
not  altogether  an  unwilling  captive. 

But  if  all  this  be  granted,  we  must  consider  what 
means  of  communication  were  at  hand;  and  what 
was  the  necessity  of  opening  such  communication, 
both  with  General  Schuyler  and  with  Quebec.  An 
Indian  might  enter  Quebec  without  suspicion,  while  a 
strange  white  man  could  not,  and  these  Indians  were 
accompanied  and  carefully  watched  as  far  as  possi 
ble  by  a  white  companion,  named  Jacquith,*  and  by 
French  Canadian  sympathizers,  selected  by  him. 
Moreover,  Washington,  in  his  written  advice,  suggests 
the  employment  of  a  St.  Francis  Indian  for  this  very 
purpose.  Perhaps  if  Arnold  had  known  that  both 
Eneas  and  Sabattis  were  relatives  of  that  suspicious 
character,  old  Natanis,  he  would  not  have  trusted 
them  with  the  letters,  but  as  it  was  he  seems  to 
have  done  the  best  with  the  means  at  his  command. 

From  the  third  portage  he  wrote  two  letters,  dated 

*  As  Professor  Smith  says,  Arnold's  letter  to  Steele  shows  that  this 
white  man  was  not  Jacquith  but  John  Hall,  the  British  deserter. 


68          ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

October  15,  to  Lieutenant-Colonel  Enos,  to  which  we 
shall  have  occasion  to  refer  again,  as  they  bear  on 
that  officer's  future  conduct.  In  these,  he  ordered 
him  to  leave  men  behind  him,  with  an  officer,  to  see 
that  there  was  a  bateau  at  each  pond;  to  collect  all 
the  bateaux  adrift  down  the  Kennebec,  and  those  aban 
doned  on  the  carry;  to  send  back  the  sick;  to  hurry 
forward.  He  also  tells  him  that  he  designs  holding  a 
council  of  war  on  the  Dead  River,  where  he  expects 
particular  advice  from  Canada.  He  states  that  "tine 
three  first  divisions  have  twenty -five  days'  provisions, 
which  will  carry  them  to  Chaudiere  pond  and  back, 
where  we  shall  doubtless  have  intelligence  and  shall 
be  able  to  proceed  or  return,  as  shall  be  thought  best." 


CHAPTEE   VI 


FLOOD— FAMINE— DESERTION 

0  the  south  and  west  of  the  spruce  bog  at 
the  last  portage  of  the  Twelve  Mile  carry, 
there  was  a  natural  meadow  of  great  ex 
tent  covered  with  long  grass,  more  than 
waist-high,  which  the  men  cut  and  used 
for  covering  at  night,  the  army  being  inadequately  sup 
plied  with  tents  and  blankets.  On  the  west,  the  meadow 
reached  to  the  foot  of  the  mountains  several  miles 
off,  of  which  Mt.  Bigelow— now  so  called— its  crest 
thirty-eight  hundred  feet  above  sea-level,  was  the 
chief.  Across  the  river  to  the  north  and  east,  at  a  dis 
tance  of  perhaps  eight  or  ten  miles,  ran  a  range  of  high 
hills,  the  boundary  of  the  valley  of  the  Dead  Eiver  on 
that  side.  The  small  creek  already  referred  to  formed 
a  convenient  harbor  and  landing  place  near  the  first 
camp  of  the  army  on  the  Dead  Eiver,  there  about  sixty 
yards  wide. 

The  Dead  Eiver  here  creeps  down  its  course  with 
a  scarcely  perceptible  movement,  its  waters  black, 
smooth,  and  overhung  with  thick  grasses  and  bushes, 
by  which,  as  the  water  was  too  deep  for  setting  poles 
and  they  had  few  oars,  some  of  the  crews  were  obliged 
slowly  and  tediously  to  pull  along  the  bateaux  loaded 
still  further  with  invalids,  who  were  too  weak  to  stand 

69 


70          ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

the  fatigues  of  the  march.  The  Mount  Bigelow  range, 
capped  with  snow,  presented  from  this  point  of  view 
its  steepest  and  loftiest  summit,  its  flank  blackened 
by  deep  shadows  (since  the  sun  rises  at  this  season 
directly  behind  it),  and,  forbidding  and  awe-inspiring, 
overhung  the  valley.  As  they  advanced  they  found 
it  lay  directly  between  the  army  and  home ;  it  seemed 
gradually  to  close  the  road  behind  them  and  bar  their 
retreat.  Snow  was  falling  lightly. 

The  original  order  of  the  divisions  having  been 
waived  to  save  time,  Colonel  Greene,  with  the  second 
division,  passed  the  riflemen,  still  working  on  the 
roads,  and  made  his  way  up  the  Dead  River  about 
twenty-one  miles,  arriving  the  16th  of  October  at  the 
deserted  wigwam  of  the  suspected  Indian  spy  Natanis, 
described  by  Steele's  scouts  as  "prettily  placed  on  a 
bank  twenty  feet  high,  about  twenty  yards  from  the 
river,  and  with  a  grass  plot  extended  around,  at  more 
than  shooting  distance  for  a  rifle,  free  from  timber  and 
brushwood. ' '  Three  miles  above  it  they  went  into  camp. 

The  troops  in  the  bateaux  continued  their  snail- 
like  progress,  but  most  of  the  men  crossed  on  foot 
the  points  of  land  between  the  serpentine  windings  of 
the  river,  which  in  this  vicinity  recoils  upon  itself  so 
often  that  to  advance  directly  ten  miles  one  must 
frequently  paddle  or  pole  nearly  twice  that  distance 
by  water.  The  Mount  Bigelow  range  held  them  like 
a  lodestone;  it  seemed  impossible  to  escape  its  shadow 
—often  they  seemed  to  be  again  approaching  it. 
During  the  day  they  had  carried  seven  rods  around 


FLOOD-FAMINE-DESERTION  71 

low  falls,  now  known  as  * '  Hurricane  Falls. ' '  The  carry 
at  these  falls  was  a  convenient  half-way  camp  to 
Natanis's  wigwam,  and  Dearborn's  company,  and 
probably  the  whole  third  division  also,  camped  there 
on  the  16th.  Next  day  Dearborn's  men  joined  Colo 
nel  Greene's  division.  Arnold  was  encamped  at  the 
same  place  where  Greene's  men  were  resting  and 
waiting  for  the  next  division  to  come  up  with  provi 
sions,  for  theirs  were  nearly  exhausted.  They  were  em 
ploying  the  time  in  making  up  cartridges,  filling  their 
powder  horns,  and  looking  to  their  accoutrements. 
There  seems  to  have  been  no  apprehension  of  any 
Indian  attack,  and  no  extraordinary  precautions  were 
taken  to  avoid  surprise,  beyond  the  scouting  parties 
mentioned— not  even  regular  guard-mounting—but 
Arnold  wished  to  use  every  moment  of  time  to  some 
advantage,  and  to  keep  the  men  out  of  mischief.  The 
two  oxen  driven  across  the  Twelve  Mile  carry  had  been 
slaughtered  at  the  first  encampment  on  the  Dead  Eiver 
on  the  18th,  and  five  quarters  were  sent  forward  to  this 
part  of  the  detachment  in  advance.  This  was  the 
last  fresh  domestic  provision, — thereafter  the  whole 
army  must  rely  on  flour,  pork  and  whatever  they 
could  forage  from  the  wilderness. 

The  inequality  in  the  distribution  of  the  provisions 
among  the  different  companies,  resulting  from  the 
causes  mentioned,  had  now  conspicuously  appeared. 
Topham's  and  Thayer's  companies  of  Greene's  divi 
sion  were  brought  as  early  as  the  16th,  to  half  allow 
ance,  and  on  the  17th,  had  only  five  or  six  pounds  of 
flour  per  man.  Accordingly,  Arnold,  much  concerned, 


72          ARNOLD'S   EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

sent  back  Major  Bigelow  with  twelve  bateaux  and 
ninety-six  men,  with  orders  to  draw  upon  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Enos  in  the  rear,  for  all  the  provisions  he 
could  spare,  at  the  same  time  writing  a  letter  to 
Enos,  in  which  the  extremity  of  the  foremost  divisions 
was  clearly  set  forth. 

On  the  17th  also  Morgan's  division  passed  Greene's 
encampment  and  went  on  for  Chaudiere  pond.  The 
weather  on  the  18th  set  in  again  very  rainy,  and  the 
third  division  having  now  joined  Greene's,  both 
remained  here  till  the  afternoon  of  the  19th,  when  the 
rain  ceased.  Then  Meigs  with  his  division  marched 
on  (for  they  had  still  a  fair  quantity  of  provisions), 
under  orders  to  push  for  the  Height  of  Land,  and 
while  awaiting  the  rear  there,  to  make  up  cartridges 
and  furnish  a  number  of  pioneers  to  clear  the  por 
tages.  They  continued  their  route  up  the  river  five 
miles,  and  encamped  on  the  north  bank.  That  after 
noon  they  passed  three  small  falls;  the  river  current, 
except  at  the  falls,  continued  gentle.  Thus  we  find 
that  the  riflemen  had  resumed  their  position  at  the 
head  of  the  detachment,  and  were  now  only  a  few 
miles  above,  the  third  division  becoming  second  in  the 
line. 

On  October  19  Arnold  closely  followed  Meigs 's  divi 
sion  and  two  days  later  he  overtook  the  riflemen,  but 
as  Morgan's  encampment  was  bad,  he  proceeded  one 
mile  higher  up  the  river  and  camped  about  eleven 
that  night,  very  wet  and  much  fatigued.  It  had 
begun  to  rain  again,  and  though  the  riflemen  made 


FLOOD-FAMINE-DESERTION  73 

twenty  miles  on  the  18th,  having  only  one  short 
carrying  place  to  surmount,  the  rain  then  drove  them 
into  their  tents  and  confined  them  there  the  greater 
part  of  the  next  four  days,  during  which  they  only 
advanced  five  miles  further.  They  were  the  more 
readily  induced  to  delay,  as  they  were  nearly  out  of 
provisions  and  were  counting  upon  the  rear  divisions 
to  bring  them  supplies. 

Greene's  division  meanwhile  had  packed  the  car 
tridges  they  had  made  in  casks  and  loaded  their 
bateaux,  and  then,  in  enforced  idleness,  their  rations 
daily  more  insufficient,  awaited  anxiously  the  supplies 
Major  Bigelow  and  his  detail  had  been  sent  to  bring 
up.  This  division  had  now  been  delayed  for  five  or 
six  days  to  no  purpose,  and  had  fallen  to  third  place 
in  the  column.  Their  impatience  was  not  lessened  by 
their  empty  stomachs  and  the  rapid  disappearance  of 
the  scanty  provender  which  remained  to  them.  The 
third  division,  holding  the  second  place  in  the  line, 
made  steady  progress,  in  spite  of  the  thick  and  rainy 
weather,  and  were  fortunate  in  finding  the  water 
plentiful,  the  current  gentle  and  the  portages  few 
and  short. 

But  as  the  bateaux,  when  fully  loaded,  could  carry 
only  three  men  each,  this  long  and  rough  march  was 
accomplished  by  most  of  the  men  on  foot.  As  they 
forced  their  way  through  thickets  and  fell  over  logs 
and  pitfalls,  climbed  over  blow-downs  and  scrambled 
over  the  rocks,  they  reduced  their  clothing  to  tatters. 
The  torrents  of  rain  saturated  and  stained  their  uni- 

8 


74          ARNOLD'S   EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

forms,  blankets  and  camp  equipage,  and  rusted  their 
firearms  and  tools.  Sometimes  the  underbrush  and 
thickets  were  so  dense  that  they  saved  time  and  labor 
by  wading  in  the  shoals  under  the  banks  of  the  river. 
The  rough  bed  of  the  stream,  which  was  full  of  stones 
and  boulders,  tempted  many  to  keep  their  shoes  on 
while  they  waded,  and  moccasins  or  army  shoes  worn 
on  wet  ground  or  under  water  for  many  days  were 
soon  almost  useless.  The  huge  fires  they  built  at 
night  were  not  sufficient  to  warm  and  dry  them  be 
fore  the  teeth  of  the  most  robust  were  chattering,  and 
whole  companies,  as  the  chill  of  nightfall  drew  on, 
shivered  as  if  with  the  ague.  It  was  not  a  week  before 
many  of  the  improvident  who  had  relied  on  one  pair 
of  shoes  were  barefoot. 

During  the  morning  of  the  21st  the  rain  in 
creased  in  violence,  the  river  began  noticeably  to  rise, 
and  the  wind,  swinging  to  S.  S.  W.,  threatened  a 
hurricane.  Every  division  of  the  detachment,  ex 
cept  that  of  the  riflemen,  was  buffeting  the  storm  as 
best  it  might;  and  more  or  less  successfully  accord 
ing  to  the  character  of  the  ground  where  it  happened 
to  be.  As  darkness  came  on  the  hurricane  was  fairly 
upon  them,  and  trees  which  overhung  the  banks  were 
blown  down  or  uprooted  in  every  direction,  rendering 
further  passage  as  dangerous  as  it  was  difficult.  The 
risk  of  encamping  in  the  forest  was  great,  and  the 
men  selected  the  most  open  places  they  could  find, 
but  many  could  not  use  their  tents  for  fear  of  falling 
trees,  and  it  was  quite  impossible  to  keep  up  their 
fires  in  such  a  deluge  of  rain.  So  the  night  passed 


FLOOD-FAMINE-DESERTION  75 

in  the  midst  of  perils  and  discomforts  which  must 
have  tried  the  most  cheerful  and  courageous  spirit. 
Many  had  no  shelter  whatever  from  the  furious  storm 
save  such  bark  huts  as  they  had  time  hurriedly  to 
construct. 

As  morning  approached  the  encampments  became 
flooded  and  untenantable.  The  river  had  already  risen 
three  feet.  It  was  no  longer  "dead";  it  was  wonder 
fully  and  fearfully  alive  with  rushing  water,  drift  and 
debris.  Daylight  revealed  several  of  the  bateaux 
which  had  been  hauled  up,  sunken  almost  out  of  sight. 
Barrels  of  powder,  pork  and  other  supplies  had  been 
washed  off  the  bank  and  carried  down  stream.  The 
storm  abated,  but  the  river  continued  to  swell  in  vol 
ume.  It  finally  rose  to  the  unparalleled  height  of  nine 
feet,  overflowed  its  banks,  spread  through  the  forest 
intervale  in  low  places  for  a  mile  or  more  on  either 
side,  and  from  a  freshet  became  a  flood,  which  dashed 
over  the  falls  and  ledges  with  a  five-mile-an-hour 
current.  Only  two  similar  floods,  if  local  tradition  can 
be  trusted,  have  occurred  since  this  of  1775.  All  the 
small  tributary  rivulets  (and  they  were  not  a  few)  were 
increased  to  an  enormous  size.  The  few  guides  be 
came  confused,  and  the  copies  of  Montresor's  map 
which  some  of  the  officers  had  were  therefore  worse 
than  useless.  The  footmen  were  obliged  to  trace 
these  false  rivers  for  miles  till  some  narrow  place  pre 
sented  a  ford,  and  even  then  were  often  able  to  cross 
only  by  felling  large  trees  for  foot-bridges. 

No  longer  obliged  to  carry  the  bateaux  over  por 
tages,  the  crews  floated  and  hauled  them  against  the 


76          ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

current  through  the  cuttings  in  the  woods  made  by  the 
riflemen.  Progress  was  more  snail-like  than  ever. 
The  second  division  advanced  only  six  miles,  the  third 
only  four.  Lieutenant  Humphries  and  his  whole 
boat's  crew  were  overturned,  and  lost  everything 
except  their  lives— "with  which  they  unexpectedly 
escaped. ' ' 

Smith's  company  of  riflemen,  who  were  encamped 
on  a  bank  eight  or  ten  feet  above  the  river,  two  or 
three  miles  below  Ledge  Falls,  the  most  difficult  cata 
ract  on  the  Dead  River,  on  the  night  of  the  tempest, 
had  fared  even  worse  than  the  others,  for  they  had 
reached  the  foothills  of  the  Height  of  Land.  The 
river  rose  so  suddenly  in  the  darkness  that  the  first 
notice  of  their  danger  was  towards  morning,  when  the 
water  swept  under  their  shelters  and  carried  away 
most  of  their  provisions  and  camp  equipment. 

Arnold  has  been  accused  by  Burr  of  not  sharing 
the  privation  of  his  men  on  this  expedition.  Certainly 
he  fared  no  better  than  the  rest  on  this  night,  for  he 
saved  himself  only  by  sacrificing  his  baggage,  and  re 
treated  to  a  hillock  just  above  the  flood,  where  he 
remained  till  morning  in  great  discomfort  and  anxiety. 

As  soon  as  there  was  daylight  enough  to  enable 
them  to  see  their  way  in  the  forest,  the  riflemen  re 
sumed  their  march.  Deceived  by  the  overflow,  they 
mistook  a  western  branch  of  the  Dead  River— which 
meets  it  a  few  miles  from  the  encampment  from  which 
they  had  just  been  driven— for  the  main  stream. 
Some  of  them  journeyed  up  this  branch  seven  miles 


FLOOD-FAMINE-DESERTION  77 

before  they  discovered  their  mistake  and  found  an 
opportunity  to  cross.  The  country  round  about  is 
much  cut  up  with  ponds,  rivulets,  steep  hills  and  bog- 
holes,  and  when  overflowed  was  a  puzzling  labyrinth 
for  the  most  experienced  woodsman.  The  snagging 
and  spotting  of  Steele's  and  Church's  men,  owing  to 
the  freshet,  was  of  little  avail,  nor  was  the  compass 
of  much  service,  for  few,  if  any,  of  the  captains  had 
received  the  courses  and  distances  on  the  river.  The 
freshet  and  flood  could  not  have  been  foreseen  by  their 
commander.  But  the  riflemen's  ill-luck  brought  them 
some  advantage,  for  on  this  misleading  stream  they 
discovered  the  wigwam  of  Sabattis,  brother  of  Natanis, 
and,  hidden  in  bark  cages  in  the  tree-tops,  his  kettle, 
cooking  utensils  and  some  dried  meats.  What  they 
could  not  consume  they  destroyed,  and  crossing  the 
stream  made  a  bee-line  across  the  land  between  them 
and  the  Dead  Kiver. 

The  footmen  of  the  third  division,  falling  into  the 
same  error,  got  four  miles  on  their  way  up  this  stream, 
when  they  were  set  right  by  a  boat's  crew  despatched 
by  Arnold,  who  had  foreseen  their  mistake  and  predica 
ment.  They  then  made  the  best  of  their  way  to  the 
main  channel,  crossing  the  branch  on  a  tree.  As  they 
approached  a  fall  which,  with  the  river  at  its  usual 
height,  is  only  four  feet,  in  the  midst  of  a  channel 
not  much  more  than  fifty  feet  wide,  they  perceived  a 
cataract  three  times  the  width  of  the  real  channel, 
and  beheld  the  crews  of  their  boats  making  a  hope 
less  struggle  to  stem  the  current.  Five  or  six  were 
already  upset  and  lost,  with  all  their  contents,  a  quan- 


78          ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

tity  of  clothing,  guns  and  provision,  and  "a  consider 
able  sum  of  money  destined  to  pay  off  the  men. ' '  The 
riflemen  were  to  be  seen  seated  in  shivering  groups 
along  the  bank  below  the  falls  gazing  longingly  upon 
the  opposite  bank,  where  were  landed  such  of  their 
boats,  provisions  and  camp  equipage  as  had  escaped 
the  flood. 

These  falls— Ledge  Falls  as  they  are  called— were 
the  most  formidable  they  had  encountered  on  the  Dead 
River.  Eocky  ledges  on  either  side  rose  to  a  height 
of  thirty  or  forty  feet,  like  the  open  floodgates  of  a 
gigantic  dam,  and  the  river  sweeps  down  a  narrow 
gorge  between  them,  as  through  a  sluiceway,  with  a 
strong  current  even  when  the  waters  are  low.  The 
first  of  the  long  chain  of  lakes  to  be  crossed  before 
coming  to  the  Height  of  Land  lies  hardly  eight  miles 
distant,  and  these,  shut  in  by  precipitous  mountains, 
form  natural  reservoirs  of  which  the  Dead  Eiver  is  the 
outlet.  The  valley  narrows  as  it  reaches  these  lakes 
and  the  intervale  is  cut  up  by  steep  hills  and  deep 
ravines.  The  circuits  the  army  was  obliged  to  make 
to  avoid  the  overflowing  of  the  river  became  wider  and 
more  fatiguing,— especially  as,  owing  to  their  separa 
tion  from  their  bateaux,  the  men  were  without  food  or 
shelter  except  such  provision  from  the  previous  day's 
rations  as  the  more  prudent  might  have  husbanded  in 
their  knapsacks  or  pockets. 

Greene's  division  was  in  perhaps  the  worst  plight 
of  all.  Bigelow's  party  had  returned,  but  with  only 
two  barrels  of  flour  by  way  of  provisions,  having 


FLOOD-FAMINE-DESERTION  79 

found  it  impossible  to  get  more  from  Colonel  Enos. 
Discouraged  by  the  scarcity  of  supplies,  and  the  addi 
tional  hardships  the  freshet  compelled  them  to  undergo, 
the  men  were  still  further  shaken  by  the  sight  of 
returning  boats,  laden  with  invalids  from  Morgan's 
and  Meigs's  divisions,  who  assured  them  of  the  hope 
lessness  of  any  further  progress  against  the  obstacles 
which  nature  had  set  in  their  path,  and  exhorted  them 
to  turn  back  and  save  their  own  lives  at  least.  But 
the  brave  fellows  showed  no  signs  of  faltering,  and 
pressed  forward  dauntlessly,  though  with  slow  and 
toilsome  steps,  into  the  wilderness,— not  like  the 
Light  Brigade,  with  the  inspiring  notes  of  bugles  and 
the  cheers  of  an  army,  fired  with  the  glorious  in 
spiration  of  a  cavalry  charge,  but  yet  more  heroically, 
into  the  very  jaws  of  a  slow  and  terrible  death  by 
famine,  at  the  mercy  of  wolves  and  wild  beasts,  into 
a  country  held  by  an  enemy.  Reduced  to  half  a  pint 
of  flour  per  man,  even  the  salt  washed  out  of  their 
boats,  they  awaited  their  commander's  arrival,  to 
consult  over  their  desperate  condition. 

A  council  of  officers,  over  which  Arnold  presided, 
had  been  held  at  the  camp  of  the  riflemen  and  the 
third  division  below  the  falls  the  evening  before,  and 
in  accordance  with  its  resolve,  Captain  Hanchett, 
with  fifty-five  men,  had  hurried  on  by  land  for  Chau- 
diere  pond  and  the  French  settlements  to  obtain  sup 
plies.  The  sick  and  those  unfit  for  duty  were  sent 
back,  with  an  officer  and  a  few  well  and  able-bodied 
men  to  care  for  the  worst  cases,  to  Colonel  Enos, 
who  was  directed  to  give  them  such  comfort  as  he 


80          ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

could,  and  expedite  their  return  to  the  Kennebec  and 
Cambridge. 

On  the  24th  of  October  the  two  leading  divisions 
moved  again.  It  was  snowing  gently,  and  daylight 
on  the  25th  disclosed  two  inches  of  snow  on  the 
ground.  The  ground  was  difficult  and  progress  slow, 
but  on  the  26th  Meigs's  men  carried  their  bateaux, 
now  few  in  number,  out  of  the  river  and  launched 
them  in  the  first  of  a  long  chain  of  lakes,  which  led 
to  the  foot  of  the  Boundary  Mountains,  to  them  be 
come  as  the  Promised  Land  to  the  long-wandering 
children  of  Israel.  They  passed  over  the  first  lake 
two  miles  to  a  narrow  gut  two  rods  over,  then  poled 
up  a  narrow  strait  one  and  a  half  miles  long;  then 
passed  over  a  third  lake,  three  miles ;  then  up  another 
connecting  strait,  half  a  mile;  and  at  last  entered 
a  fourth  lake  only  a  quarter  of  a  mile  wide.  After 
noon  found  them  poling  and  dragging  up  a  narrow, 
tortuous  gut,  three  or  four  miles  in  length,  running 
through  a  desolate  swamp.  At  evening  they  came 
to  a  portage  fifteen  rods  across,  and  there  encamped. 
Arnold  was  in  advance  with  Hanchett's  detail,  camped 
several  miles  beyond. 

On  the  27th  Meigs  's  men  crossed  the  carrying  place 
to  a  lake  half  a  mile  over;  made  another  carry  of 
one  mile ;  then  passed  across  a  little  pond  one-quarter 
of  a  mile  wide;  then  a  portage  of  forty-four  rods  to 
another  lake  two  miles  wide.  They  crossed  this  and 
came  to  the  Height  of  Land  and  the  long  carry  of 
four  and  one-half  miles  to  the  Chaudiere  waters. 


FLOOD— FAMINE— DESERTION  81 

Here  they  received  orders  to  abandon  their  bateaux, 
and  to  transport  only  one  for  each  company  across 
the  mountainous  portage.  But  Morgan,  who  preceded 
them,  unwilling  to  leave  the  spare  ammunition  of  the 
detachment  which  had  been  intrusted  to  his  company 
of  Virginians,  and  foreseeing  that  when  the  great  task 
was  once  accomplished  and  they  should  reach  the 
Canadian  waters  his  men  would  thank  him  for  their 
punishment,  carried  over  seven  of  his  boats  and 
launched  them  in  the  river  running  down  seven  miles 
from  the  Height  of  Land  to  Chaudiere  Lake.  This 
stream  was  then  confused  by  many  with  the  true 
Chaudiere.  It  is  now  called  the  Seven  Mile  stream 
or  Arnold's  Eiver.  Hendricks's  men  also  attempted 
this,  and  persisted  until  their  shoulders  were  so  bruised 
and  chafed  that  they  could  not  bear  a  touch  without 
shrinking.  They  had  carried  most  of  their  bateaux 
to  the  top  of  the  ridge,  but  finally  abandoned  all  but 
one  before  they  reached  the  Seven  Mile  stream.  Mor 
gan 's  all-enduring  men  are  said  to  have  worn  the 
flesh  from  their  shoulders  in  the  gallant  execution  of 
his  orders. 

Morison,  one  of  Hendricks's  riflemen,  describes  this 
portage,  which  he  says  the  army  denominated  "the 
terrible  carrying  place,"  as  a  considerable  ridge  cov 
ered  with  fallen  trees,  stones  and  brush.  "The  ground 
adjacent  to  the  ridge  is  swampy,  plentifully  strewed 
with  old  dead  logs,  and  with  everything  that  could 
render  it  impassable.  Over  this  we  forced  a  passage, 
the  most  distressing  of  any  we  had  yet  performed  j 


82 

the  ascent  and  descent  of  the  hill  was  inconceivably 
difficult.  The  boats  and  carriers  often  fell  down  into 
the  snow;  some  of  them  were  much  hurt  by  reason 
of  their  feet  sticking  among  the  stones.  Attempts 
were  made  to  trail  them  over,  but  there  was  too 
much  obstruction  in  the  way.  Besides,  we  were  very 
feeble  from  former  fatigues  and  short  allowance  of 
but  a  pint  of  flour  each  man  per  day  for  nearly  two 
weeks  past,  so  that  this  day's  movement  was  by  far 
the  most  oppressive  of  any  we  had  experienced." 

The  bateaux  of  Meigs's  division  were  hauled  up 
during  the  afternoon  of  the  27th,  and  all  but  six  for 
each  company  abandoned;  the  provisions  distributed 
and  everything  got  in  readiness  to  cross  the  "terrible 
carry"  over  the  Boundary  Mountains.  Most  of  their 
supply  of  powder  was  found  to  be  ruined  by  damp 
ness,  and  was  accordingly  destroyed. 

We  must  now  return  to  the  forlorn  camp  of 
Greene's  division,  near  Ledge  Falls,  where  events  of 
the  utmost  moment  were  in  progress.  The  desperate 
straits  to  which  Greene's  men  were  reduced  by  the 
failure  of  their  provisions  have  already  been  alluded 
to,  and  we  have  seen  that  Major  Bigelow's  party  was 
able  to  procure  only  two  barrels  of  flour  from  the  rear 
guard  with  which  to  relieve  their  comrades'  necessi 
ties.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  supplies  were  running  low 
with  Enos's  division,  as  well  as  with  the  others. 
Though  they  were  supposed  to  be  bringing  up  the 
bulk  of  the  army's  provisions,  they  had  met  with  the 
same  misfortunes  which  had  overtaken  the  rest  of  the 


From  steel  engraving  after  original  painting  at 
Brown  University. 


FLOOD-FAMINE-DESERTION  83 

detachment.  Leaky  bateaux,  accidents  on  the  por 
tages,  and  finally  the  great  freshet,  had  depleted  the 
reserve  supply,  until  the  officers  of  the  rear  guard 
found  themselves  in  possession  of  what  they  consid 
ered  hardly  enough  to  take  their  own  men  across  the 
divide.  The  urgent  appeals  of  Greene  fell,  therefore, 
on  unwilling  ears;  even  Arnold's  peremptory  orders 
could  induce  them  to  part  with  only  a  small  part  of 
their  stores. 

In  this  situation  of  affairs  a  settlement  of  the  ques 
tions  at  issue  became  necessary,  and  a  council  of  war 
was  called  to  meet  at  Greene's  camp,  the  officers  from 
his  own  and  Enos's  divisions  being  summoned.  From 
the  first  it  was  apparent  that  the  latter  were  deter 
mined  to  turn  back,  the  insufficiency  of  the  provisions 
and  the  increasing  difficulties  of  the  undertaking 
proving  to  be  unanswerable  arguments  to  their  minds. 
By  the  casting  vote  of  Colonel  Enos  himself,  who 
gave  his  voice  for  going  forward,  it  was  voted  not 
to  retreat;  but  no  sooner  was  this  decision  reached 
than  the  three  captains  of  his  divison,  McCobb,  Wil 
liams  and  Scott,  held  an  informal  council  of  war 
among  themselves.  At  its  conclusion  they  announced 
that  they  would  not  lead  their  men  into  the  almost 
certain  starvation  and  death  they  saw  as  the  only 
issue  of  this  reckless  march  into  a  hideous  wilderness, 
but  would  retire  at  once  to  the  Kennebec  settlements. 
Upon  this  Colonel  Enos  decided,  with  profusely  ex 
pressed  regret,  though  apparently  without  much  reluc 
tance,  that  his  duty  lay  with  his  division,  and  that  if 


84          ARNOLD'S   EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

it  determined  to  return  to  New  England,  his  place 
was  at  the  head  of  its  columns. 

The  officers  of  Greene's  division,  although  they 
had  borne  such  sufferings  and  hardships  as  those  of 
the  rear  guard  had  not  even  witnessed,  were  still 
unanimous  in  their  determination  to  press  forward, 
and  their  indignation  with  Colonel  Enos  and  his  sub 
ordinates  was  profound.  Reproaches  and  entreaties 
were  alike  ineffectual  in  altering  these  officers'  minds, 
however,  and  two  more  barrels  of  flour  were  all  the 
additional  supply  that  the  timorous  rear  guard  could 
be  induced  to  surrender  to  their  half-starving  com 
rades. 

These  are  the  quaint  words  in  which  Dr.  Isaac 
S enter,  the  surgeon  with  Greene's  division,  describes 
the  proceedings,  and  voices  the  exasperation  with 
which  they  inspired  him : 

They  (Colonel  Enos  and  his  officers)  came  up  before  noon, 
when  a  council  of  war  was  ordered.  Here  sat  a  number  of 
grimacers,— melancholy  aspects  who  had  been  preaching  to 
their  men  the  doctrine  of  impenetrability  and  non-perse 
verance,  Colonel  Enos  in  the  chair.  The  matter  was  debated 
upon  the  expediency  of  proceeding  on  to  Quebec,  the  party 
against  going  urging  the  impossibility,  averring  the  whole 
provisions,  when  averaged,  would  not  support  the  army  five 
days.  After  debating  the  state  of  the  army  with  respect  to 
provisions,  there  was  found  very  little  in  the  division  camped 
at  the  Falls  (which  I  shall  name  Hydrophobias)  ;  the  other 
companies  not  being  come  up,  either  through  fear  that  they 
should  be  obliged  to  come  to  a  divider,  or  to  show  their  dis 
approbation  of  proceeding  any  further.  The  question  being 


FLOOD-FAMINE—DESERTION  85 

put  whether  all  to  return  or  only  part,  the  majority  were  for 
part,  only,  returning.  Part  only  of  the  officers  of  those 
detachments  were  in  this  council. 

Those  who  were  present  and  voted  were :  For  proceed 
ing:  Lieutenant-Colonel  Enos,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Greene, 
Major  Bigelow,  Captain  Topham,  Captain  Thayer,  Captain 
Ward.* 

For  returning:  Captain  Williams,  Captain  McCobb,  Cap 
tain  Scott,  Adjutant  Hyde,  Lieutenant  Peters. 

According  to  Colonel  Arnold's  recommendation,  the  in 
valids  were  allowed  to  return,  as  also  the  timorous.  The 
officers  who  were  for  going  forward  requested  a  division  of 
the  provisions,  and  that  it  was  necessary  they  should  have 
the  far  greater  quantity  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  men, 
as  the  supposed  distance  that  they  had  to  go  ere  they  arrived 
into  the  inhabitants  was  greater  than  what  they  had  come, 
after  leaving  the  Kennebec  inhabitants.  To  this  the  return 
ing  party  (being  pre-determined)  would  not  consent,  alleg 
ing  that  they  would  either  go  back  with  what  provisions  they 
had,  or  if  they  must  go  forward,  they'd  not  impart  any. 
Colonel  Enos,  though  (he)  voted  for  proceeding,  yet  had 
undoubtedly  preengaged  for  the  contrary,  as  every  action 
demonstrated.  To  compel  them  to  a  just  division,  we  were 
not  in  a  situation,  as  being  the  weakest  party.  Expostula 
tions  and  entreaties  had  hitherto  been  fruitless.  Colonel 
Enos  who  more  immediately  commanded  the  division  of 
returners,  was  called  upon  to  give  positive  orders  for  a  small 
quantity,  if  no  more.  He  replied  that  his  men  were  out  of 
his  power,  and  that  they  had  determined  to  keep  their  pos 
sessed  quantity  whether  they  went  back  or  forward.  They 
finally  concluded  to  spare  (us)  2£  barrels  of  flour,  if  deter- 

*  Ward  should  probably  be  Hubbard  as  Ward  was  in  advance,  and 
Hubbard  was  one  of  Greene's  captains   (Smith). 


86          ARNOLD'S   EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

mined  to  pursue  our  destination,  adding  that  we  should  never 
be  able  to  bring  (in)  any  inhabitants.  Through  circum 
stances  we  were  left  the  alternative  of  accepting  their  small 
pittance,  and  proceed,  or  return.  The  former  was  adopted 
with  a  determination  to  go  through  or  die.  Received  it,  put 
it  on  board  our  boats,  quit  the  few  tents  we  were  in  posses 
sion  of,  with  all  other  camp  equipage,  took  each  man  his 
duds  to  his  back — bid  them  adieu,  and  away — passed  the 
river,  passed  over  falls,  and  encamped. 

Oh,  why  was  not  Arnold  of  this  momentous  council, 
which  in  the  midst  of  the  wilderness,  shivering  in  the 
driving  snowstorm,  decided  the  fate  of  the  Expedition, 
and  left  Canada  to  Great  Britain!  Oh,  for  his  strong 
hand,  his  powerful  invective,  his  earnest  persuasion! 
Who  can  doubt  the  stinging  rebuke  and  withering 
scorn  with  which  he  would  have  lashed  those  diso 
bedient  officers,  who,  contrary  to  express  commands, 
contrary  to  the  decision  of  a  general  council  of  war, 
acting  on  their  own  private  agreement,  were  ready  to 
desert  their  comrades  of  the  advance,  and  abandon 
an  enterprise  the  failure  of  which  would  cast  the 
deepest  gloom  over  the  cause  in  which  their  country 
had  embarked. 

Arnold  on  this  day,  the  fatal  25th  of  October,  was 
battling  with  the  elements  on  the  lakes.  In  the  midst 
of  the  snowstorm  the  wind  blew  a  gale,  the  seas  on  the 
lakes  became  formidable  and  his  bateaux  had  frequently 
to  be  run  ashore  and  bailed.  He  had  missed  his  guides 
and  was  not  able  to  camp  until  near  midnight,  and  then 
he  did  not  know  whether  he  was  on  the  right  trail  or 
not.  So  it  was  that  an  express  despatched  by  Greene 


FLOOD-FAMINE-DESERTION  87 

telling  of  this  serious  situation,  returned  without  find 
ing  him.  How  slender,  and  at  the  time  how  invisible, 
are  the  links  in  the  chain  which  bind  together  the  great 
events  of  history,  and  unite  or  divide  an  empire !  From 
the  failure  of  this  courier  to  reach  Arnold  may  be 
traced  Enos's  defection  and  return,  the  failure  of  the 
Expedition,  the  repulse  before  Quebec,  the  retreat  from 
Canada  and  the  loss  of  British  America  to  the  Ameri 
can  Union. 

But  under  date  of  October  24,  Dead  Eiver,  30  miles 
from  Chaudiere  pond,  Arnold  had  written  this  letter  to 
Lieutenant- Colonel  Enos : 

Dear  Sir:—  The  extreme  rains  and  freshets  in  the  river 
have  hindered  our  proceeding  any  further.  When  I  wrote 
you  last,  I  expected  before  this  to  have  been  at  Chaudiere.  I 
then  wrote  to  you  that  we  had  about  twenty-five  days'  pro 
visions  for  the  whole.  We  are  now  reduced  to  twelve  or 
fifteen  days,  and  don't  expect  to  reach  the  pond  under  four 
days.  We  have  had  a  council  of  war  last  night,  when  it  was 
thought  best,  and  ordered,  to  send  back  all  the  sick  and 
feeble  with  three  days'  provisions,  and  directions  for  you 
to  furnish  them  until  they  can  reach  the  Commissary  or 
Norridgewock ;  and  that  on  the  receipt  of  this,  you  should 
proceed  with  as  many  of  the  best  men  of  your  division  as 
you  can  furnish  with  fifteen  days'  provisions,  and  that  the 
remainder,  whether  sick  or  well,  should  be  immediately  sent 
back  to  the  Commissary,  to  whom  I  wrote  to  take  all  possible 
care  of  them.  I  make  no  doubt  that  you  will  join  me  in  this 
matter,  as  it  may  be  the  means  of  preserving  the  whole 
detachment  and  of  executing  our  plan  without  moving  by 
great  hazard,  as  fifteen  days  will  doubtless  bring  us  to 


88          ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

Canada.      I  make  no  doubt  you  will  make  all  possible  ex 
pedition.  I  am,  dear  Sir, 

Yours, 

B.  ARNOLD. 

On  the  very  same  date,  Arnold  wrote  to  Greene 
telling  him  to  send  back  the  sick  and  feeble,  to  pro 
ceed  with  his  best  men,  and  fifteen  days'  provisions, 
and  adding— " Pray  hurry  on  as  fast  as  possible." 

Greene  marched  on.  But  Enos's  division,  and— 
according  to  Lieutenant  Buckmaster's  statement— 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  invalids  from  other  divi 
sions,  turned  their  backs  on  their  comrades  and  began 
to  make  the  best  of  their  way  home  to  Cambridge. 

The  news  of  Enos's  defection,  as  Captain  Dear 
born  wrote  in  his  journal,  "disheartened  and  discour 
aged  the  men  very  much.  .  .  .  But,  being  now 
almost  out  of  provisions,  we  were  sure  to  die  if  we 
attempted  to  turn  back,  and  we  could  be  in  no  worse 
situation  if  we  proceeded  on  our  route.  Our  men 
made  a  general  prayer  that  Colonel  Enos  and  all  his 
men  might  die  by  the  way  or  meet  with  some  disaster 
equal  to  the  cowardly,  dastardly  and  unfriendly  spirit 
they  disclosed  in  returning  back  without  orders  in  such 
a  manner  as  they  had  done,  and  then  we  proceeded 
forward. ' ' 

In  a  similar  tone,  Sergeant  Stocking,  who  was  far 
in  the  advance  with  Arnold  and  Captain  Hanchett, 
wrote:  "To  add  to  our  discouragement,  we  received 
intelligence  that  Colonel  Enos,  who  was  in  our  rear, 
had  returned  with  three  companies,  and  taken  a  large 


FLOOD-FAMINE-DESERTION  89 

share  of  provisions  and  ammunition.  These  companies 
had  constantly  been  in  the  rear,  and,  of  course,  had 
experienced  much  less  fatigue  than  we  had.  They  had 
their  paths  cut  and  cleared  by  us;  they  only  followed, 
while  we  led.  That  they,  therefore,  should  be  the  first 
to  turn  back,  excited  in  us  much  manly  resentment. 
.  .  .  Our  bold  though  inexperienced  commander  dis 
covered  such  firmness  and  zeal  as  inspired  us  with 
resolution.  The  hardships  and  fatigues  he  encoun 
tered  he  accounted  as  nothing  in  comparison  with  the 
salvation  of  his  country."  So,  another  volunteer,  ex 
pressing  the  universal  disgust  with  which  the  conduct 
of  Enos  and  his  captains  was  regarded  by  those  who 
persevered,  wrote :  t '  May  shame  and  guilt  go  with  him, 
and  wherever  he  seeks  a  shelter,  may  the  hand  of  jus 
tice  shut  the  door  against  him!" 

The  court  martial  held  in  Cambridge  December  1, 
1775,  acquitted  Lieutenant-Colonel  Enos  with  honor, 
but  did  not  hush  the  popular  outcry.  So  persistent 
was  this  that  in  May,  1776,  Enos  was  forced  to  de 
fend  his  reputation  in  print  by  presenting  an  address 
to  the  public,  containing  the  evidence  offered  to  the 
court  with  the  certification  of  the  president,  General 
John  Sullivan,  and  a  further  endorsement  of  his  gen 
eral  character*  and  ability  as  an  officer,  signed  by 
many  prominent  officers  of  the  Continental  army.  It 
must  be  remembered,  however,  that  no  evidence  from 
the  men  who  suffered  by  Enos 's  conduct  was  submitted 
to  the  court— indeed,  there  was  no  evidence  obtain 
able,  at  that  time,  from  Arnold  and  the  officers  who 

*  See  Appendix  D. 


90          ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

advanced.  The  decision  of  the  court  appears  to  have 
been  based  entirely  on  the  testimony  of  Enos  and  his 
officers,  who  would  share  with  him  any  ignominy  at 
tached  to  the  retreat.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Enos,  long 
mouldered  into  dust,  cannot  resume  his  defense,  but 
is  it  not  to  be  regretted  that  the  men  who  marched 
forward  only  to  starve  to  death  or  feed  the  wolves, 
could  not  have  appeared  before  the  court?  Their  wan 
specters  could  have  asked  Enos  some  troublesome 
questions. 

On  what  precedent  did  he  reverse  the  decision  of 
a  council  of  war  by  the  separate  and  subsequent  vote 
of  a  minority?  When  Captain  McCobb  testified  before 
that  court  martial  that  it  was  agreed  at  a  council  of 
war  that  Greene's  division  should  advance  and  Enos's 
division  return,  did  he  speak  the  truth?  When  he 
and  Adjutant  Hyde  declared  that  Enos's  division  left 
Greene's  with  five  days'  provisions,  did  they  agree 
upon  a  lie?  Why  was  no  base  of  supplies  established 
at  the  Twelve  Mile  carry,  and  boats  with  guards  sta 
tioned  on  the  ponds  of  that  carry,  in  accordance  with 
Arnold's  repeated  orders— especially  if  Enos  felt  so 
sure  that  those  who  went  forward  must  fail? 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  had  Enos  ordered  his  di 
vision  to  advance,  perhaps  the  men  of  his  own  divi 
sion—some  of  whom  would  undoubtedly  have  per 
ished — would  also  have  risen  to  haunt  him,  and  their 
specters  might  have  been  still  more  numerous  and 
implacable.  Arnold  had  last  written,  "proceed  with 
as  many  of  the  best  men  as  you  can  furnish  with 


FLOOD-FAMINE-DESERTION  91 

fifteen  days'  provisions,  and  send  back  the  rest, 
whether  sick  or  well,  to  the  commissary."  Circum 
stances  over  which  Enos  had  no  control  rendered  the 
precise  execution  of  this  order  an  impossibility.  Was 
he  not,  then,  justified  in  using  his  discretion?  The 
impartial  reader  must  put  himself  in  Enos's  place  and 
decide  for  himself  whether  he  would  have  chosen  the 
spirits  of  the  soldiers  in  advance,  or  those  of  his  own 
division,  for  visitants.  It  was  an  occasion  which 
" tried  men's  souls"  more  than  an  occasion  which 
tried  their  judgment. 


CHAPTER   VII 
ACEOSS  THE  "  TEEEIBLE  CAEEY  " 


N  eagle  soaring  above  the  forest-covered 
snow-whitened  mountains  of  the  Height 
of  Land,  the  morning  after  this  momen 
tous  25th  day  of  October,  might  have 
marked  the  relative  positions  of  the  vari 
ous  divisions  of  the  army:  Arnold,  with  four  bateaux 
and  fifteen  men,  having  crossed  the  Height  of  Land, 
was  paddling  rapidly  down  the  Chaudiere  Lake;  Cap 
tain  Hanchett,  with  his  detail  of  fifty  men,  was  march 
ing  around  the  lake  on  its  eastern  shore ;  the  rifle  com 
panies,  under  Morgan,  were  crossing  the  long  chain 
of  lakes  and  working  their  way  up  the  tortuous  gut, 
which  led  to  the  shorter  chain  of  ponds  close  to  the 
mountains;  Meigs,  with  the  third  division,  was  enter 
ing  the  first  of  the  chain  of  lakes;  the  unlucky  sec 
ond  division,  Colonel  Greene's,  was  moving  forward 
from  the  camp-ground  three  miles  beyond  Ledge  Falls, 
where  the  fatal  council  of  war  had  been  held;  while 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Enos,  with  his  division,  was  begin 
ning  his  retreat  from  the  same  spot. 

We  are  now  compelled  to  follow  each  division 
separately,  as  their  courses  and  adventures  were  very 
different. 

92 


ACROSS    THE    TERRIBLE    CARRY  93 

Certainly  we  do  not  prefer  to  begin  by  retreating, 
and  our  sympathetic  interest  in  the  "grimacers"  and 
"returners"  of  Enos's  division  now  fails,  but  there 
remains  a  lingering  curiosity  as  to  their  homeward 
march. 

Their  progress  down  stream  was  rapid  but  not  al 
together  smooth,  for  though  the  river  was  no  longer 
rising,  the  flood  had  by  no  means  subsided.  Where 
before  they  had  many  bateaux,  they  now  had  few,  so 
that  most  of  the  men  marched  by  land.  When  they 
reached  their  former  camp-ground  near  Bog  brook, 
they  found  the  low  country  beyond  overflowed.  Those 
who  were  in  the  bateaux  continued  on  the  Dead  River 
to  the  north  and  east  of  the  Twelve  Mile  carry— pre 
ferring  this  wide  circuit  of  some  forty  miles  to  the 
task  of  carrying  their  craft  across  the  intervening 
short  portages  of  the  Twelve  Mile  carrying  place.  Thus 
deprived  of  the  few  remaining  boats,  those  on  shore 
were  forced  to  abandon  any  attempt  to  cross  the  three 
ponds  on  the  Twelve  Mile  carry,  and  were  compelled 
to  seek  the  Kennebec  on  foot.  They  had  not  left  the 
Dead  River  sixty  rods  before  they  were  obliged  to 
wade ;  the  water  deepened  as  they  advanced,  and  ' l  for 
a  mile  and  a  half  was  waist-deep  and  they  were 
obliged  to  break  the  ice  before  them  the  whole  way." 
For  still  another  mile  the  water  was  over  their  shoes. 
But  they  covered  the  eighteen  miles  to  the  Kennebec 
in  a  course  which  stood  as  a  string  to  the  bow  made 
by  the  Dead  River,  in  one  day. 


94          ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

The  passage  down  the  Kennebec  to  Norridgewock 
was  easily  accomplished.  One  party  of  thirty  or  forty 
men  were  obliged  to  return  and  bring  up  some  pro 
visions  left  on  the  Dead  River.  It  must  have  been 
rough  duty.  From  Norridgewock  they  descended  the 
river  to  Brunswick,  which  lies  on  the  Androscoggin 
just  above  its  junction  with  the  Kennebec,  without 
suffering  any  extreme  hardship,  and  with  the  loss  of 
only  one  life— that  of  Seabrid  Fitch,  of  Connecticut,  a 
man  of  Scott's  company,  who  was  upset  and  drowned 
in  attempting  to  shoot  Bumbazee  Rips. 

From  Brunswick,  Colonel  Enos  hurried  on  the  fol 
lowing  letter  to  General  Washington: 

November  9,  1775. 

Sir:— I  am  on  my  return  from  Colonel  Arnold's  detach 
ment.  I  brought  up  the  rear  of  the  whole.  Captain  Mc- 
Cobb's,  Williams'  and  Scott's  companies  were  assigned  to 
my  division.  "We  proceeded  as  far  as  50  miles  up  the  Dead 
River  and  were  then  obliged  to  return  for  want  of  provisions. 
When  we  arrived  at  the  Great  carrying  place,  by  what  I 
could  learn  of  the  division  forward  that  provisions  were 
likely  to  be  short,  I  wrote  to  Colonel  Arnold  and  desired  him 
to  take  account  of  the  provisions  forward :  he  wrote  me  that 
there  were  twenty-five  days'  provisions  for  all  the  divisions 
ahead,  but  to  my  surprise  before  we  got  to  the  Great  carrying 
place,  Major  Bigelow  with  ninety  men  were  sent  back  from 
Colonel  Greene's  division  to  mine,  for  provisions.  I  left 
them  all  I  could  spare.  I  continued  my  march  with  all  ex 
pedition  and  when  about  five  miles  up  the  Dead  River,  over 
took  Colonel  Greene's  division  entirely  out  of  provisions,  and 
by  reason  of  men  being  sent  back  with  orders  from  Colonel 
Arnold  to  me  to  furnish  them  with  provisions  to  carry  them 


ACROSS    THE    TERRIBLE    CARRY  95 

to  the  inhabitants,  my  division  was  reduced  to  four  days' 
provisions.  Colonel  Arnold  was  gone  ahead:  the  chief  of 
the  officers  of  Colonel  Greene's  division  and  mine  were 
together  when  we  took  the  situation  of  the  divisions  into 
consideration,  and  upon  the  whole  it  was  thought  best  for  my 
whole  division  to  return  and  furnish  those  who  proceeded 
with  all  our  provisions  except  three  days  to  bring  us  back, 
which  I  did  without  loss  of  time.  A  more  particular  account 
shall  be  able  to  give  when  I  return  to  Cambridge.  Shall  lose 
no  time  if  able  to  ride.  I  have  for  many  days  been  unwell. 
Expect  the  whole  of  my  division  at  this  place  tomorrow, 
when  we  shall  set  out  on  our  march  to  Cambridge. 

I  am  your  most  obedient  and  humble  servant, 

ROGER  ENOS. 

Yet  their  labors  were  not  over— they  had  now  to 
reach  Cambridge  by  land,  for  there  were  no  transports 
in  waiting.  So  on  they  marched  through  North  Yar 
mouth,  Old  Casco  Bay,  Stroudwater  Bridge,  Scar 
borough.  It  was  no  child's  play,  this  long  march  over 
rough  roads  frozen  hard  by  the  raw  cold  of  a  northern 
November;  the  marchers  worn  out,  ill  and  footsore, 
dispirited  and  remorseful  with  thoughts  of  their  brave 
comrades,  deserted  and  starving.  On  again  through 
Saco,  Wells  and  Old  York  into  Kittery,  Piscataway 
and  Portsmouth.  No  applause  along  the  road,  but 
surprise,  questioning,  silence,  ridicule,  disgrace.  No 
gala  welcome  at  Newburyport;  but  the  same  pretty 
girls,  with  averted  faces;  fathers  and  mothers  asking 
for  sons;  sweethearts  for  lovers,  who  had  gone  nobly 
forward.  Explanations,  excuses,  do  not  avail — insults 
deepen  to  curses.  Past  their  old  camps  at  Rowley, 
Lynn  and  Mystic,  the  sorry  returners  hurried  on  and 


96          ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

reached,  at  last,  the  camp  at  Cambridge.  They  were 
greeted  with  sneers  of  derision,  treated  with  contempt 
and  slunk  away  to  hide  themselves  in  the  respective 
commands  from  which  they  were  drafted. 

Arnold,  parting  from  Hanchett's  detail  on  the 
Height  of  Land  carry,  took  his  canoe  and  four  bctr 
teaux,  containing  his  private  secretary,  Oswald,  Lieu 
tenants  Church,  Steele,  and  thirteen  men,  and  passed 
rapidly  down  the  Seven  Mile  stream  to  the  great  lake 
Chaudiere.  Hanchett,  as  we  know,  he  had  ordered 
to  advance  along  the  eastern  shore  of  the  lake.  That 
officer  had,  in  marching  down  the  Seven  Mile  stream, 
encountered  the  outlet  of  Lake  Nepess.  His  party 
of  fifty-five  men  waded  two  miles  up  to  their  waists  in 
water,  which  was  so  cold  that  they  soon  lost  all  sense 
of  feeling  in  their  feet  and  ankles,  to  a  piece  of  low, 
marshy  ground.  Here,  about  sunset  on  the  27th,  Ar 
nold's  party  luckily  discovered  them,  and  his  few 
bateaux  were  occupied  until  midnight  in  ferrying  them 
over,  clear  of  sunken  ground.  From  the  carrying 
place  they  should  have  kept  on  the  high  ground,  and 
steered  a  N.  N.  E.  course.  It  was  doubtless  Han 
chett's  misadventure  which  prompted  Arnold  to  dic 
tate  the  postscript  of  the  following  letter,  dated  this 
day,  ; '  October  27,  at  the  Chaudiere  River, ' '  directed  to 
the  field  officers  and  captains  in  the  detachment,  and 
ordered  '  *  to  be  sent  on  that  the  whole  may  see  it. ' ' 

Gentlemen:— I  have  this  minute  arrived  here  and  met 
my  express  from  the  French  inhabitants,  who,  he  tells  me, 
are  rejoiced  to  hear  we  are  coming1,  and  that  they  will  gladly 


97 

supply  us  with  provisions.  He  says  there  are  few  or  no 
regulars  at  Quebec,  which  may  be  easily  taken.  I  have  just 
met  Lieutenants  Steele  and  Church,  and  am  determined  to 
proceed  as  fast  as  possible  with  four  bateaux  and  fifteen 
men  to  the  inhabitants  and  send  back  provisions  as  soon  as 
possible.  I  hope  to  be  there  in  three  days,  as  my  express 
tells  me  we  can  go  most  of  the  way  by  water.  You  must 
all  of  you  keep  the  east  side  of  the  lake.  You  will  find 
only  one  small  river,  until  you  reach  the  crotch,  which  is 
just  above  the  inhabitants.  I  hope  in  six  days  from  this 
time  to  have  provisions  half  way  up  the  river.  Pray  make 
all  possible  despatch.  If  any  Companies  on  their  arrival  at 
the  river  have  more  than  four  or  five  days'  provisions,  let 
it  be  despatched  to  others,  or  left  for  their  coming  on. 
I  am,  Gen'l'n,  your  h'ble  servant, 

B.  ARNOLD. 

P.  S. — The  bearer,  Isaac  Hull,  I  have  sent  back  in  order 
to  direct  the  people  in  coming  from  the  Great  Carrying 
Place  (i.  e.,  the  Height  of  Land)  to  Chaudiere  Pond.  From 
the  west  side  of  the  Great  Carrying  Place,  before  they  come 
to  the  meadows,  strike  off  to  the  right  hand  and  keep  about 
a  north  and  by  east  course,  which  will  escape  the  low, 
swampy  land,  and  save  a  very  great  distance,  and  about  six 
miles  will  bring  you  to  the  Pond.  By  no  means  keep  the 
brook,  which  will  carry  you  into  a  swamp,  out  of  which  it 
will  be  impossible  for  you  to  get. 

The  messenger  brought  also  verbal  intelligence  that 
General  Schuyler,  commanding  the  New  York  forces, 
had  successfully  engaged  the  regulars  and  Indians, 
and  made  a  considerable  number  of  prisoners,  and 
that  in  three  days  they  would  meet  provisions  in 
their  way. 
10 


98          ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

This  letter,  or  a  similar  one,  reached  Greene's  divi 
sion,  at  least,  as  we  shall  learn  later,  but  the  impor 
tant  postscript  failed  nevertheless  of  its  purpose,  and 
so  in  part  did  the  letter,  for  Smith's  and  Hendricks's 
riflemen,  as  well  as  several  of  the  companies  of  mus 
keteers  of  both  Meigs's  and  Greene's  divisions,  fell 
into  this  swampy  trap,  and  the  men,  elated  by  the 
speedy  prospect  of  relief,  consumed  much  more  of 
their  slender  supply  of  flour  than  they  would  have 
done  had  they  known  the  exact  truth. 

Smith's  and  Hendricks's  riflemen  took  up  their  line 
of  march  October  30,  from  their  camp-ground  on  the 
banks  of  the  Seven  Mile  stream,  near  where  Morgan's 
men  had  launched  their  boats  after  crossing  the  moun 
tains,  and  moving  in  single  file,  for  there  was  no  path 
and  the  country  was  mountainous  and  much  ob 
structed,  tramped  six  miles  along  the  east  bank  of 
the  river.  Then  they  rested  for  the  night  in  the 
woods.  The  men  lay  on  fir  boughs,  without  other 
covering  than  blankets,  close  together  for  warmth,  and 
waked  to  find  themselves  under  a  counterpane  of  four 
inches  of  snow.  But  this  was  a  more  comfortable 
night  than  any  enjoyed  for  some  weeks,  and  the  men 
were  far  from  complaining.  The  five  pints  of  flour 
per  man,  which  the  recent  partition  had  given  them, 
were,  for  convenience  in  carriage,  baked  in  Indian 
fashion  into  cakes,  under  the  ashes  of  their  camp  fires. 
The  following  day  they  took  up  the  line  of  march 
through  flat  and  boggy  ground,  and  at  about  ten 
o'clock  came  upon  the  marsh  where  Hanchett's  men 
had  undergone  their  unfortunate  experience.  It  was 


ACROSS  THE  TERRIBLE  CARRY      99 

three-fourths  of  a  mile  over  and  covered  by  a  coat 
of  ice  half  an  inch  thick.  Here,  as  the  soldier  Henry 
narrates  in  his  journal,  a  halt  was  called  till  the 
stragglers  should  come  up.  He  proceeds: 

There  were  two  women  attached  to  these  companies. 
One  was  the  wife  of  Sergeant  Grier,  of  Hendricks's  company, 
a  large,  virtuous  and  respectable  woman.  The  other  was 
Jemima  Warner,  wife  of  James  Warner,  a  private  of  Smith's 
company,  a  man  who  lagged  upon  every  occasion.  These 
women  having  arrived,  it  was  presumed  that  all  the  party 
were  up.  We  were  on  the  point  of  entering  the  marsh  when 
some  one  cried  out,  "Warner  is  not  here!"  Another  said 
he  had  "sat  down  under  a  tree  a  few  miles  back."  His 
wife  begging  us  to  wait,  with  tears  of  affection  in  her  eyes, 
ran  back  to  her  husband.  We  tarried  an  hour.  They  did 
not  come.  Entering  the  pond  and  breaking  the  ice  here 
and  there  with  the  butts  of  our  guns  and  our  feet,  we 
were  soon  waist-deep  in  mud  and  water.  As  is  generally 
the  case  with  youths,  it  came  to  my  mind  that  a  better  path 
might  be  found  than  that  of  the  more  elderly  guide.  At 
tempting  this  in  a  trice  the  water,  cooling  my  armpits, 
made  me  gladly  return  into  file.  Now  Mrs.  Grier  had  got 
before  me.  My  mind  was  humbled,  yet  astonished,  at  the 
exertions  of  this  good  woman.  Her  clothes  more  than 
waist  high,  she  waded  before  me  to  the  firm  ground.  No 
one,  so  long  as  she  was  known  to  us,  dared  intimate  a  dis 
respectful  idea  of  her. 

Arriving  at  firm  ground  and  waiting  again  for  our  com 
panions,  we  then  set  off  and,  in  a  march  of  several  miles, 
over  a  scrubby  and  flat  plain,  arrived  at  a  river  flowing 
from  the  east  into  Chaudiere  Lake.  This  we  passed  in  a 
bateau,  which  the  prudence  of  Colonel  Arnold  had  sta 
tioned  here  for  our  accommodation;  otherwise  we  must 


have  swam  the  stream,  which  was  wide  and  deep.  In  a 
short  time  we  came  to  another  river  flowing  from  the  same 
quarter,  still  deeper  and  wider  than  the  former.  Here  we 
found  a  bateau  under  the  superintendency  of  Captain  Dear 
born,  in  which  we  passed  the  river.  We  skirted  the  river 
to  its  mouth,  then  passed  along  the  margin  of  the  lake  to 
the  outlet  of  Chaudiere,  where  we  encamped  with  a  hetero 
geneous  mass  of  the  army. 

Dearborn's,  Goodrich 's,  and  Ward's  companies, 
composing  Meigs's  division,  had,  as  we  have  seen,  on 
the  27th,  hauled  up  and  abandoned  their  bateaux  on 
the  east  side  of  the  Height  of  Land,  and  gone  into 
camp  about  half  a  mile  up  the  carry.  Dearborn  found 
here  a  fine  birch  canoe  carefully  laid  up,  probably  by 
Indians.  It  proved  a  godsend.  Dearborn  and  Ayres 
took  it  on  their  shoulders  next  morning  and  carried 
it  across  the  mouptain  ''to  a  small  stream  which  led 
into  Chaudiere  pond;"  put  it  in  and  paddled  down 
the  stream.  The  other  officers  and  men  of  the  divi 
sion  advanced  through  the  forests  and,  it  would  seem, 
took  different  routes.  Meigs  and  those  with  him  kept 
well  to  the  N.  N.  E.,  and  thus  avoided  the  morass, 
but  found  themselves  by  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon 
on  the  shore  of  a  large  lake  (Lake  Nepess),  which  they 
mistook  to  be  Chaudiere  pond.  Accordingly  they  con 
tinued  their  march  until  nightfall,  when  they  unex 
pectedly  came  upon  an  abandoned  Indian  camp.  They 
took  advantage  of  the  clearing  and  here  passed  the 
night. 

The  following  day  they  crossed  the  water,  marched 
about  fifteen  miles  through  the  woods  and  encamped 


101 

near  the  north  end  of  Chaudiere  pond.  Those  who 
followed  Meigs  were  evidently  men  of  Ward's  com 
pany,  for  Captain  Dearborn  having  reached— in  his 
new-found  canoe— the  mouth  of  the  Seven  Mile 
stream,  where  it  meets  the  outlet  of  Bush  Lake  and 
Lake  Nepess,  found  both  his  own  company  and 
Captain  Goodrich 's,  who  had  marched  down  from 
the  mountain  ridge,  and  by  keeping  too  far  to  the 
west  had  encountered  the  swamp,  into  which  they  had 
preceded  the  riflemen,  who  did  not  reach  the  swamp 
until  the  next  morning.  The  men  were  about  to  build 
a  raft  when  Dearborn  arrived  with  his  canoe  and 
offered  to  search  for  a  ford  for  them.  Paddling  into 
the  pond  and  around  an  island,  he  came  upon  Captain 
Goodrich  and  a  few  of  his  men,  who  had  waded  in 
tha  direction.  Goodrich  informed  him  that  he  had 
made  a  thorough  search  and  there  was  no  way  to  pass 
the  river  without  boats.  The  land  all  around  was 
a  sunken  swamp  for  a  great  distance.  It  was  now 
growing  dark,  and  any  hope  of  relief  from  their  evil 
situation  that  night  seemed  to  be  shut  out.  Captain 
Goodrich  had  already  waded  to  and  fro  several  miles 
to  his  armpits  in  water  and  broken  ice,  trying  to  find 
some  ford  by  which  his  men  might  cross  the  river. 

But  the  increasing  darkness  served  to  bring  into 
vision  a  light  on  shore  which  seemed  to  be  about  three 
miles  away.  Captain  Dearborn  took  Captain  Good 
rich  in  his  canoe  and  paddled  across  to  the  light. 
Here  they  found  a  good  bark  house  with  one  man  in 
it,  who  had  been  left  by  the  advance  party  for  want 
of  provisions  and  ordered  to  rejoin  his  company.  Be- 


102        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

fore  the  fire  this  man  had  built  the  few  officers  lay 
down  for  a  few  hours'  uneasy  rest;  meanwhile  their 
men  were  having  the  most  exasperating  experiences  in 
the  morass  into  which  they  had  wandered.  The  freshet, 
which  had  culminated  in  the  flood  of  October  22, 
had  inundated  all  the  lowlands  on  both  sides  of  the 
mountains.  The  overflowed  swamp  at  the  junction  of 
Rush  Lake,  its  outlet  to  Chaudiere  pond  and  Arnold's 
Eiver— shunned  nowadays  at  all  seasons  by  hunts 
men—was,  as  Arnold  had  written,  "A  place  from 
which  it  was  impossible  to  get. ' '  For  hours  they  stum 
bled  and  floundered  over  the  slippery  roots  of  hack 
matack  and  cedar,  which  were  concealed  under  an 
alluring  carpet  of  soft  green  moss  soaked  with  water 
and  filled  with  particles  of  ice.  Dislocation  of  a  bone 
or  a  severe  sprain  might  mean  death.  A  broken  bone 
was  almost  sure  abandonment  to  starvation,  for  few 
were  now  strong  enough  to  carry  a  cripple. 

The  alders  were  high,  dense  and  tough.  The  ex 
hausted  provincials,  bending  under  their  arms  and 
luggage,  which  caught  them  back  and  clogged  their 
every  movement,  wandered  in  and  out,  knee-deep  in 
icy  mire,  searching  for  a  dry  standing  place,  or  sprang 
from  sinking  tussocks  upon  others  which  seemed  more 
secure  than  the  first,  but  proved  constantly  more  de 
ceptive.  The  snow  which  lay  here  and  there  on  the 
ground,  and  on  the  frozen  edges  of  the  open  water, 
only  made  false  steps  more  costly.  Twilight  still 
found  them  within  a  short  radius  of  their  position  at 
noon,  after  ten  miles  of  worse  than  useless  traveling 
in  endless  circles.  At  dark  they  chanced  upon  a  little 


ACROSS    THE    TERRIBLE    CARRY  103 

knoll,  where  they  remained  all  night.  One  man  who 
had  fainted  in  the  water  with  fatigue  was  supported 
thither  by  his  comrades. 

To  make  their  fires  the  men  were  obliged  to  wade 
into  the  water,  chop  down  trees  in  the  darkness,  and 
fetch  out  the  dripping  wood.  The  knoll  was  so  cir 
cumscribed  that,  as  they  lay  down,  feet  to  the  blaze, 
the  surrounding  water  was  close  to  their  heads.  Many 
stood  erect  all  night  to  keep  from  freezing;  if  it  had 
rained  hard  it  would  have  overflowed  their  refuge 
and  extinguished  their  fire. 

Any  one  who  has  hunted  in  the  Maine  woods  in 
winter  knows  how  penetrating  and  biting  are  the 
cold,  damp  river  mists  at  night;  how  they  creep 
through  the  slightest  opening  in  the  blanket  and 
freeze  where  they  touch ;  how  they  gnaw  through  hunt 
ing  coats  and  heavy  underclothing,  and  chill  the  shiv 
ering  hunter  in  the  very  face  of  his  bonfire.  Such 
a  one  can  perhaps  faintly  imagine  the  sufferings  of  the 
poor  fellows  on  this  little  hillock  the  night  of  October 
29,  1775,  supperless,  after  days  of  half-rations  and 
toilsome  marching,  thinly  clad,  hopelessly  lost,  more 
than  a  hundred  miles  from  civilization. 

As  soon  as  it  was  light  Dearborn  and  Goodrich 
returned  to  the  swamp,  and,  assisted  by  Captain 
Smith's  bateaux  which  luckily  appeared  on  the  scene, 
began  to  ferry  the  men  across.  But  they  had  not 
marched  fifty  rods  when  they  came  to  the  second 
river,  so  that,  as  there  were  only  two  boats  and  nearly 
two  hundred  men,  the  rest  of  the  day  was  consumed 
i 


104        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

in  making  the  passage.  Toward  sunset,  under  Dear 
born's  guidance,  they  set  out  for  the  bark  house, 
where  he  had  passed  the  night  with  Goodrich.  In 
the  thick  woods  it  was  easy  to  lose  reckoning,  and 
Dearborn's  compass  was  defective.  They  went  astray 
two  miles,  but  at  last,  much  fatigued,  reached  the 
bark  house  and  encamped. 

The  next  day  Ayres  and  Dearborn  passed  down 
the  Chaudiere  pond  in  their  canoe,  while  the  remain 
der  of  the  men  marched  down  the  east  side  of  the 
lake,  and  joined  them  in  camp  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Chaudiere  River.  The  progress  of  those  on  foot  was 
very  rapid,  urged  as  they  were  by  frantic  hunger  and 
the  hope  of  meeting  boats  with  provisions  on  the 
Chaudiere.  Finding  neither  boats  nor  provisions,  they 
hastened  on  ten  miles,  assured  by  the  knowledge  that 
if  they  did  not  leave  the  river  they  were  sure  to  reach 
Sartigan.  At  a  small  creek  they  found  an  advertise 
ment  set  up  telling  them  that  the  longed-for  boats 
were  wrecked  and  all  the  flour  lost.  Several  dogs, 
thus  far  faithful  companions  of  these  miserable  men, 
were  now  turned  to  account,  killed,  boiled,  eaten— 
every  part,  not  excepting  their  feet,  skin  and  entrails. 

The  riflemen  had  now  caught  up  with  some  of  the 
men  of  Dearborn's  company,  and  shared  the  dog  stew 
which  these  men  were  brewing.  But  this,  of  course, 
could  not  go  far  among  so  many,  and  the  poor  fellows 
washed  their  moose-skin  moccasins,  scraped  off  the 
dirt,  rinsed  them  in  the  river  and  boiled  them,  hop 
ing,  without  success,  for  a  sort  of  mucilage  soup. 


105 

Those  of  the  New  Englanders  who  had  any  leather 
coats  or  shoes  left,  gnawed  them  with  no  better  re 
sult. 

Sergeant  Stocking  as  he  proceeded  "passed  many 
sitting,  wholly  drowned  in  sorrow,  wistfully  placing 
their  eyes  on  every  one  who  passed  by  them  hoping 
for  some  relief.  Such  pity-taking  countenances  he 
had  never  before  beheld."  And  here  comes  Jemima 
Warner,  a  long-neglected  heroine,  after  twenty  miles 
of  walking  and  running  to  catch  up,  breathless,  pant 
ing,  torn  and  disheveled,  her  dead  husband's  cartridge 
belt  her  girdle,  and  his  musket  in  her  hand.  Faith 
ful  unto  death,  she  had  remained  with  him  until  he 
succumbed  to  hunger  and  exhaustion,  had  buried  him 
with  leaves,  and  then,  at  last,  looked  to  her  own  safety. 

Let  us  now  turn  back  for  the  last  time  and  follow 
up  Greene's  division  to  the  front.  On  the  28th  of 
October,  while  their  comrades  of  the  advance  were 
marching  into  the  Rush  Lake  morass,  near  the  outlet 
of  the  Seven  Mile  stream,  this  division  came  rapidly 
forward  over  the  chain  of  lakes  and  the  Height  of 
Land  by  the  same  route  as  that  followed  by  the  rifle 
men,  except  that  most  of  the  men  kept  the  shores  of 
the  chain  of  lakes  and  went  into  camp  on  the  high 
ground  near  the  recent  camp  of  Morgan,  where  they 
joined  some  of  Meigs's  division.  All  day  they  awaited 
stragglers  and  the  rear  of  the  division,  employing  the 
time  in  making  a  final  partition  of  the  remaining  pro 
visions,  in  order  that  each  man  might  fully  realize 

how  small  an  amount  he  must  depend  upon  thereafter. 
11 


106        ARNOLD'S   EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

This  distribution  gave  five  pints  of  flour  to  each  man 
—the  pork  was  too  small  in  quantity  to  be  divided, 
as  there  was  less  than  an  ounce  per  man.  The  offi 
cers  in  general  generously  forebore  to  take  their  share 
of  pork.  This  supply  must  last  them  for  six  days, 
at  least,  and  they  must  travel  chiefly  on  foot  in  the 
forest,  without  a  path,  for  about  one  hundred  miles. 

Having  no  salt,  they  mixed  their  tiny  portions  of 
flour  into  small  cakes  as  the  riflemen  had  done,  and 
these  they  baked  on  the  coals  of  their  fire.  Some  of 
the  men  had,  before  this  division  of  flour,  found  them 
selves  reduced  to  eating  the  pieces  of  raw  moose  hide 
which  they  had  laid  by  to  mend  their  shoes  and  moc 
casins.  These  they  boiled  after  singeing  off  the  hair. 
For  fourteen  days  the  whole  division  had  been  on  half 
allowance  or  worse.  Dysentery  or  constipation  had 
become  chronic  with  many  of  the  men,  conditions  due 
to  starvation  and  peculiarly  fitted  to  disable  and  dis 
hearten  them  in  such  traveling.  There  was  no  one  to 
come  after  them  to  aid  or  comfort  those  unable  to 
proceed.  Their  situation  was  the  most  hazardous  of 
any  division  in  the  detachment.  In  spite  of  every  per 
suasion  and  threat,  several  of  the  men  this  evening 
devoured  the  whole  of  their  allowance  of  flour,  deter 
mined  to  have  one  hearty  meal,  even  if  it  should  prove 
to  be  the  last. 

Toward  evening,  while  the  division  still  lay  in 
camp,  a  messenger  arrived  from  the  front — from 
Arnold.  As  the  message  was  read  and  passed  from 
mouth  to  mouth  a  joyous  cheer  arose,  and  the  forest 


ACROSS    THE    TERRIBLE    CARRY  107 

rang  with  the  exultations  of  the  indomitably  hopeful 
men.  It  was  a  similar  letter  to  that  entrusted  to  Isaac 
Hull,  and  was  dated  at  the  Chaudiere  Eiver,  October 
27.  The  express  was  Jacquith,  whom  we  last  saw 
accompanying  the  Indians  Eneas  and  Sabattis  on  the 
mission  to  the  French  settlements  and  Quebec. 
Cheered  by  the  contents  of  the  letter,  the  soldiers 
insisted  on  breaking  camp,  though  it  was  already 
evening,  and  they  were  obliged  by  darkness  to  encamp 
again  within  a  mile  and  a  half. 

The  next  morning  the  advance  was  promptly  be 
gun  and  the  division  passed  quickly  down  the  Seven 
Mile  stream  toward  Lake  Chaudiere.  As  the  column, 
or  more  properly  file,  neared  its  waters,  the  majority 
decided  to  go  to  the  southeast  of  the  stream  upon  the 
higher  land,  and  so  pass  around  the  lake;  however,  a 
part  of  the  force  proceeded  down  the  stream  as  far  as 
they  could,  then  turned  southward,  and  took  the  north 
westerly  shore  around  the  lake,  while  Colonel  Greene, 
with  most  of  his  officers  and  some  of  the  soldiers,  took 
their  course  N.  E.  and  by  E.  for  the  Chaudiere  Eiver. 
Deluded  by  an  ignorant  guide,  the  officers  found 
their  error  before  night  closed  in.  At  daylight  they 
started  again,  and  at  eleven  o'clock  sank  into  the 
stream  and  Nepess  Lake,  "the  most  execrable  bog  mire, 
and  impenetrable  plexus  of  shrubs,  imaginable."  Had 
they  attempted  to  cross,  they  must  have  come  upon 
the  riflemen  or  men  of  Meigs's  division,  but  instead, 
they  followed  the  swampy  margin  of  Bush  Lake  till 
they  encountered  the  outlet  of  Lake  Nepess,  and 


108        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

forced  by  the  deep  water  to  pursue  a  course  nearly  at 
right  angles  to  their  proper  one,  consumed  the  re 
mainder  of  the  day  trying  to  march  around  this  large 
lake.  Entirely  ignorant  of  its  extent,  expecting  always 
that  they  were  just  about  to  round  it,  then  disap 
pointed,  retracing  their  course,  advancing  again  and 
retreating,  deceived  by  little  bays  and  tributary 
streamlets,  they  covered  eighteen  miles  of  such  trav 
eling,  only  to  camp  in  a  swamp.  They  had  been 
relying  on  Montresor's  map  and  on  the  guide,  who 
was  soon,  amid  the  execrations  of  his  followers,  more 
hopelessly  lost  than  they  were. 

Next  morning,  having  no  cooking  to  do,  and  no 
tents  to  strike,  they  set  forth  again,  still  deluded  as 
to  the  right  course,  and  hoping  at  any  hour  to  reach 
the  banks  of  the  Chaudiere  River,  now  ever  receding 
behind  them  to  the  northwest.  They  followed  a  creek 
leading  into  Lake  Nepess,  and  they  laid  their  course 
more  southerly,  hoping  to  go  around  it,  but  the  creek 
gradually  widened  into  a  river  four  rods  across  and 
still  unfordable,  nor  was  it  possible  to  build  a  bridge 
or  raft,  as  nothing  large  enough  grew  upon  its  banks. 
At  length,  coining  to  a  place  where  the  river  was 
about  four  feet  deep,  although  the  water  was  much 
frozen  on  both  sides,  they  forded.  So  weak  were 
they,  so  benumbed  with  hunger  and  cold,  that  this 
alternative  was  accepted  only  in  desperation,  and  sev 
eral  poor  wretches  "were  left  in  the  river,  nor  heard 
of  afterwards."  Their  course  was  now  shifted  to 
W.  N.  W.,  and  only  varied  to  escape  bogs,  mountains, 
small  ponds,  and  watercourses. 


DR.    ISAAC    SENTER. 

From  the  original  painting  owned  by  Mrs.  John 
Carter  Brown,  Providence,  R.  I. 


109 

It  was  now  the  third  day  they  had  been  in  search 
of  the  Chaudiere.  They  were  seemingly  lost  beyond 
redemption.  Greene  and  Dr.  S  enter  carried  the  com 
pass  by  turns.  Through  hideous  swamps,  over  moun 
tainous  precipices,  the  straggling  procession  of  starv 
ing  men— all  regard  for  order  lost— pursued  their 
enduring  leaders  helter-skelter;  every  man  was  now 
for  himself  in  the  fever  of  self-preservation.  There 
was  no  time,  not  a  moment  even,  to  halt  for  the 
weak,  lest  the  strong  perish  as  well.  There  were 
bloody  footprints  on  the  snow,  torn  rags  in  the  tough 
thickets  and  brambles.  The  sad  moaning  of  the  wind 
among  the  bare  branches  overhead,  the  plaintive 
creaking  of  the  tall  pine  tops;  the  crunching  of  snow 
and  rustle  of  dead  leaves  under  the  hurrying  feet  of 
his  companions,  alone  broke  the  stillness  of  the  vast 
forest  solitude  for  him  who,  for  a  moment,  fell  out 
exhausted.  As  the  last  man  passed  him  and  was 
hidden  by  a  thicket  of  snow-covered  spruces,  the 
ominous  howl  of  a  wolf  would  startle  him  to  a  last 
despairing  exertion. 

One  of  this  unfortunate  party  writes  of  this  terrible 
march : 

The  universal  weakness  of  body  that  now  prevailed 
over  every  man  increased  hourly  on  account  of  the  total 
destitution  of  food ;  and  the  craggy  mounds  over  which  we 
had  to  pass,  together  with  the  snow  and  the  cold  pene 
trating  through  our  deathlike  frames,  made  our  situation 
completely  wretched,  and  nothing  but  death  was  wanting 
to  finish  our  sufferings.  It  was  a  dispiriting,  a  heart 
rending  sight,  to  see  those  men  whose  weakness  was  reduced 


110        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

to  the  lowest  degree,  struggling  among  the  rocks  and  in  the 
swamps,  and  falling  over  the  logs.  It  was  no  uncommon 
sight,  as  we  ascended  those  ruthless  mountains,  to  see  those 
coming  down  the  mountain  in  our  rear,  falling  down  upon 
one  another,  in  the  act  of  mutually  assisting  each  other. 
Whose  heart  would  not  have  melted  at  this  spectacle?  It 
would  have  excited  commiseration  in  the  breast  of  a  savage 
to  have  beheld  those  weak  creatures,  on  coming  to  the  brow 
of  one  of  those  awful  hills,  making  a  halt,  as  if  calculating 
whether  their  strength  was  sufficient  for  the  descent;  at  last 
he  casts  his  eyes  to  the  adjacent  hill,  and  sees  his  comrades 
clambering  up  among  the  snow  and  rocks.  He  is  encour 
aged, — he  descends,— he  stumbles  again  at  some  obstruction, 
and  falls  headlong  down  the  precipice,  his  gun  flying  from 
him  a  considerable  distance.  His  comrade  staggers  down 
to  his  assistance,  and  in  his  eagerness  falls  down  himself; 
at  length  the  wretches  raise  themselves  up  and  go  in  search 
of  their  guns,  which  they  find  buried  in  the  snow— they 
wade  through  the  mire  to  the  foot  of  the  next  steep  and 
gaze  up  at  its  summit,  contemplating  what  they  must  suffer 
before  they  reach  it.  They  attempt  it,  catching  at  any  long 
twig  or  shrub  they  can  lay  hold  of,  their  feet  fly  from  them 
— they  fall  down  to  rise  no  more.  Alas,  alas,  our  eyes 
were  too  often  assailed  with  these  horrid  spectacles— my 
heart  sickens  at  the  recollection. 

Just  as  the  sun,  with  every  hope,  left  those  who 
still  kept  the  pace,  they  broke  upon  a  great  lake 
which  proved  to  be  Lake  Chaudiere,  and  almost  at 
once,  with  shouts  of  delight,  marked  the  trail  made 
by  the  riflemen.  They  were  near  enough  to  the  foot 
of  the  lake  to  reach  the  Chaudiere  Eiver  before  noon 
next  day,  and  animated  afresh  by  the  sight  of  this 


ACROSS    THE    TERRIBLE    CARRY  111 

stream,  pressed  on  down  the  east  bank  with  renewed 
vigor.  Though  impeded  by  an  almost  impenetrable 
growth  of  spruce,  cedar  and  hemlock,  and  the  steep 
ravines  which  frequently  broke  the  high  ground,  they 
succeeded  in  overtaking  some  of  Dearborn's  men. 
Perhaps  they  too  got  distant  scent  of  the  savory  dog- 
stew,  for  Dr.  Senter  records  they  were  given  a  piece 
of  the  dog  Dearborn's  men  were  cooking,  but  that 
did  not  suffice,  and  they  descended  to  shaving  soap, 
pomatum  and  lip  salve.  The  leather  of  their  shoes, 
cartridge  boxes,  shot  pouches  and  breeches,  roots, 
bark,  everything  was  tried  from  which  they  hoped 
nourishment  could  be  wrung. 

We  have  now  accounted  for  all  those  still  advanc 
ing  except  the  riflemen  of  Morgan's  own  company. 
Their  story  is  short:  Descending  the  Seven  Mile 
stream  and  crossing  the  Chaudiere  Lake  in  the  boats 
they  had  so  laboriously  brought  across  the  mountains, 
they  entered  the  Chaudiere  River  and  began  the  haz 
ardous  descent.  Bateau  after  bateau  was  wrecked 
and  abandoned,  and  they  had  not  advanced  fifteen 
miles  before  the  whole  company  were  forced  to 
land  and  continue  on  foot.  The  crew  of  one  of 
the  first  bateaux  lost  were  moving  down  the  edge 
of  the  river  and  so  discovered  a  fall  of  twenty  feet 
in  time  to  return  and  signal  their  comrades  in  the 
boats  which  followed  them,  else  many  more  of  those 
afloat  must  inevitably  have  perished.  They  reached 
shore  with  the  loss  of  only  one  man,  George  Innes,  of 
Morgan's  company.  Morgan  and  Burr  narrowly  es 
caped.  Both  Smith  and  Morgan  lost  their  military 


112        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

chests,  spare  clothing,  blankets  and  ammunition,  and 
the  latter  a  considerable  sum  of  money. 

But  while  the  gallant  remnants  of  the  expedition 
were  thus  struggling  forward  in  the  desperate  race 
against  utter  exhaustion  and  starvation,  where  was 
their  leader — he  who  was  to  have  led  them  proudly  on 
to  an  easy  victory  and  to  the  open  gates  of  Quebec? 


CHAPTER   VIII 


ARNOLD  SAVES  THE  REMNANT  OF  HIS  ARMY 


RNOLD,  with  his  small  escort,  without 
a  guide,  their  baggage  lashed  to  their 
boats,  started  down  the  swollen  flood  of 
the  Chaudiere  early  on  the  morning  of 

the  28th,   to  obtain  provisions  for  his 

famishing  army.  For  the  first  seven  miles  the  river  was 
a  broad  sheet  of  black  water,  perhaps  a  hundred  yards 
in  width,  owing  to  the  recent  freshet,  moving  swiftly 
through  a  vast  tract  of  overflowed  forest.  Vistas  of 
barkless  trees,  long  dead  and  whitened,  continued 
ever-present  on  either  side,  unrelieved  even  by  the 
moss  which,  in  a  more  southern  climate,  would  have 
hung  in  festoons  from  tree  to  tree.  No  sign  of  ani 
mal  life  was  visible  except  those  hermits  of  the 
swamp,  the  herons  and  mud-hens,  which  every  now 
and  then  rose  lazily  from  some  stump  or  half-im 
mersed  drift  and  flapped  slowly  on  before  them,  to 
alight  within  a  short  distance,  then  rise  again  and 
slowly  disappear  over  the  trees. 

This  dreary  region  passed,  the  water  became 
rougher  and  the  stream  was  confined  by  more  definite 
banks;  the  trees  were  no  longer  dead,  but,  with  the 
exception  of  the  evergreens,  stripped  of  their  foliage. 
They  soon  shot  across  some  sharp  rips,  and,  within  a 

113 


114        ARNOLD'S   EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

mile  or  two,  the  distant  sound  of  the  rush  of  rapids 
reached  them;  presently  they  were  fighting  their  way 
over  a  half  mile  of  water  lashed  to  fury  by  hidden 
ledges,  divided  by  fallen  trees  and  cut  into  sharp- 
toothed  waves  by  keen-edged  boulders,  between  which 
the  river  curled  and  darted  with  powerful  suction. 
Faster  and  faster,  too  fast  to  dip  a  paddle  or  plunge 
a  pole,  they  sped  on,  till  after  many  a  narrow  escape 
their  boat  shot  into  a  long,  wide  eddy,  where,  around 
a  small  island,  the  water  became  smooth  for  a  few 
moments.  Then,  as  they  rounded  a  curve  of  the 
river,  the  current  caught  them  again  and  carried  them 
into  other  rapids.  And  so  they  kept  on,  reckless  of 
their  own  safety,  their  thoughts  on  the  army  of  men 
behind  them  whose  lives  hung  on  their  reaching  the 
French  settlements  before  it  was  too  late.  Twenty 
miles  were  passed  in  two  hours,  and  no  accident  had 
happened.  All  that  day  they  wrestled  with  the  rocks 
and  angry  river,  and  there  was  no  end  to  the  rapids. 
Now  and  then  an  eddy  gave  them  a  moment's  respite, 
but  they  never  found  more  than  a  few  rods  of  open 
water  for  another  thirty  miles.  They  used  their  poles 
and  paddles  where  they  could,  but  it  was  seldom,  and 
they  were  borne  on  the  greater  part  of  the  day  at  the 
mercy  of  the  current. 

At  last  the  momentum  of  the  pent-up  water  be 
came  so  violent,  as  the  height  of  the  banks  increased, 
that  they  flew  forward  in  a  mass  of  foam;  the  waves 
sprang  up  and  curled  in  over  the  bows  and  sides  of 
their  frail  craft  and  threatened  every  moment  to 
swamp  them.  They  were  as  helpless  as  the  drift 


ARNOLD  SAVES  THE  REMNANT     115 

which  swept  along  beside  them.  The  rocks  and 
boulders  ahead  seemed  larger  and  more  fearful;  the 
banks  were  become  precipitous  and  covered  to  the 
very  edge  with  dense  forests.  They  seemed  to  be 
entering  a  rocky  gorge.  Suddenly  they  plunged  over 
a  fall,  and  every  boat  and  canoe,  as  in  turn  it  was 
sucked  into  the  vortex,  was  overturned.  Some  of 
the  men  saved  themselves  by  clinging  to  the  boats, 
or  were  washed  upon  the  rocks  below.  Six  of  them 
found  themselves  swimming  in  a  huge,  rock-bound 
basin,  where  the  river  paused  in  its  mad  rush,  and 
stood  silent  in  a  dark  and  fathomless  pool  before  it 
darted  around  a  precipitous  bank  and  fell,  thundering, 
thirty  feet  over  jagged  shelves  of  broken  ledges. 
These  are  known  to-day  as  the  Falls  of  Sault.  The 
rapids  they  passed  early  in  the  morning  are  called 
the  Devil 's  Eapids. 

They  swam  ashore,  thankful  to  have  escaped  more 
certain  death  by  their  misfortune ;  gathered  what  they 
could  of  their  baggage  from  the  rocks  where  it  had 
lodged,  and  here  spent  the  night.  Only  two  of  the 
bateaux  and  Arnold's  periagua  were  saved  from  the 
general  wreck,  and  the  periagua  was  so  badly  dam 
aged  that  it  had  to  be  abandoned. 

Their  last  day  before  reaching  Sartigan  was  not 
less  dangerous.  So  swift  was  the  current  that  the 
party  were  obliged  to  land  and  lower  the  boats  down 
stream  by  their  painters.  Several  long  portages, 
more  difficult  than  any  on  the  Dead  Eiver,  had  to  be 
crossed.  Luckily  two  Penobscot  Indians  who  met 
them  rendered  great  assistance,  and  told  them  of  the 


116        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

first  house  a  short  distance  below  the  Du  Loup. 
Arnold  therefore  pushed  on,  undaunted  by  freezing 
cold  and  flying  snow,  and  so  rapidly  did  he  cover  the 
last  forty  miles  to  Sartigan,*  half  by  water,  half  by 
land,  that  by  the  evening  of  October  30— two  days 
after  leaving  Lake  Chaudiere-— he  was  purchasing 
supplies  and  arranging  for  forwarding  them  early  next 
morning,  with  the  following  carefully  worded  letter 
directed  to  the  " Officers  of  the  Detachment." 

SARTIGAN,  Oct.  31st,  1775. 

Gentlemen:— I  now  send  forward  for  the  use  of  the  de 
tachment,  5  bbls.  and  2  tierces  and  500  Ibs.  of  flour  by 
Lieut.  Church,  Mr.  (Barin)  and  8  Frenchmen,  and  shall 
immediately  forward  on  more,  as  far  as  the  falls.  Those 
who  have  provisions  to  reach  the  falls  will  let  this  pass  on 
to  the  rear;  and  those  who  want  will  take  as  sparingly  as 
possible,  that  the  whole  will  meet  with  relief.  The  inhab 
itants  received  us  kindly,  and  appear  friendly  in  offering 
us  provisions,  etc.  Pray  make  all  possible  dispatch. 

I  am,  Gent.,  yours,  etc., 

B.  ARNOLD. 

This  reckless  descent  of  the  Chaudiere  by  Arnold 
and  his  scouts  to  save  the  shattered  army  should  for 
ever  put  at  rest  Burr's  carping  complaint  that  the 
commander  was  not  always  ready  to  share  the  perils 
and  privations  of  his  men  on  this  expedition.  Next 
day  he  sent  a  messenger  with  a  letter  to  friends  in 
Quebec,  in  which  he  notified  them  of  his  approach, 
inquired  the  strength  of  the  garrison,  and  mentioned 
his  apprehension  that  his  Indian  messengers  had 

*  Sartigan  is  now  called  St.  George's  East.      [Ed.] 


ARNOLD    SAVES    THE    REMNANT  117 

betrayed  him,  as  some  had  returned  and  brought  no 
answer.  The  letter  was  in  substance  a  repetition  of 
that  to  Messrs.  Manier,  Gregory  and  Maynard,  already 
referred  to. 

Meanwhile,  the  army,  reduced  to  the  utmost  straits, 
was  hurrying  forward  with  all  the  speed  which  in  the 
enfeebled  condition  of  the  men  was  possible.  A  very 
few  bateaux  had  been  somehow  gotten  over  the  carry 
at  the  Height  of  Land,  and  floated  across  Chaudiere 
pond,  but  in  so  leaky  and  unsafe  a  condition  that  it 
soon  appeared  they  would  be  useless  in  the  rapid 
and  boisterous  current  of  the  river.  One  which  be 
longed  to  Hendricks's  company  of  riflemen  was  carried 
further  that  the  others,  in  order  that  Lieutenant  Mc 
Clelland,  who  was  dying  of  pneumonia,  might  not  be 
left  behind  to  perish  alone  in  the  wilderness.  This 
young  officer  had  been  borne  across  the  mountains 
on  a  litter,  Captain  Hendricks  himself  being  one  of 
the  bearers.  Just  above  the  Falls  of  Sault  the  ba 
teau  in  which  he  lay  was  carried  into  the  rapids  and 
saved  only  by  its  fortunate  lodgment  upon  a  large 
rock.  The  crew  bore  their  helpless  officer  to  the 
shore  with  great  danger  and  difficulty. 

As  poor  McClelland,  dying,  lay  beside  the  fire  his 
men  had  built  for  him,  men  of  Smith's  company  of 
riflemen  passed  him  on  their  way  down  the  river. 
To  some  of  them,  his  friends,  he  bade  "farewell." 
Lieutenant  Simpson  and  other  fellow  officers  divided 
with  him  the  last  of  their  dearly  treasured  pittance 
of  food,  and  parted  from  him  with  great  distress  and 


118        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION   TO    QUEBEC 

tenderness,  for  Henry  says  of  him:  "He  was  en 
dowed  with  all  those  qualities  which  win  the  affection 
of  men.  Open,  brave,  sincere  and  a  lover  of  truth." 
He  had  marched  nine  hundred  miles  from  his  south 
ern  home  on  the  sunny  Juniata  to  die  for  his  coun 
try,  obscurely,  on  the  rock-strewn  shore  of  the  bleak 
Chaudiere.  Dr.  Senter  came  up,  also,  and  with  the 
few  instruments  which  he  carried  in  his  knapsack 
tried  the  Sangradoine  method  to  relieve  the  sufferer. 
Two  privates  were  left  to  minister  to  him,  and  later 
two  Indian  boys  from  Sartigan,  nephews  of  Natanis, 
stimulated  by  handsome  rewards  from  Smith  and 
Simpson,  made  their  way  up  the  river  with  a  canoe, 
and  brought  the  invalid  to  the  first  house  in  Sarti 
gan,  where  he  soon  after  expired,  and  was  buried 
by  his  two  attendants,  who  then  rejoined  the  army. 

On  the  31st,  some  of  the  eastern  men  and  rifle 
men,  who  led,  made  twenty-one  miles— a  terrific 
march  for  men  in  such  condition  in  a  pathless  wil 
derness,  now  covered  with  snow  and  ice.  The  cold, 
the  snow  and  the  frozen  ground  had  driven  into  their 
winter  retreats  those  small  animals  and  birds  whose 
presence  might  have  served  to  sustain  life.  The 
larger  animals,  doubtless  fully  apprised  of  the  ap 
proach  of  the  head  of  the  column  by  the  unusual 
noises  attending  the  advance  of  so  many  men,  had 
disappeared,  and  could  be  found  only  by  systematic 
hunting  out  of  the  line  of  march.  There  was  neither 
time  nor  strength  for  such  pursuit.  The  experience 
of  Steele's  scouts,  if  proof  was  needed,  had  shown 
that  moose  meat  alone  (deer,  it  would  seem,  were 


ARNOLD    SAVES    THE   REMNANT  119 

not  plenty)  was  not  sufficient  to  more  than  postpone 
starvation,  and  even  then  must  be  consumed  fre 
quently  and  in  large  quantities.  Still  one  man  saved 
his  life — thanks  to  a  sedee,  a  small  wood  bird,  and 
a  squirrel;  another  was  lucky  enough  to  shoot  a  par 
tridge. 

The  soldier  Morison,  a  volunteer  in  Hendricks's 
company,  thus  describes  the  march  in  his  journal: 

Nov.  1.— Our  deplorable  situation  reduced  us  to  the 
sad  necessity  of  every  man  to  shift  for  himself.  We  had  all 
along  aided  our  weaker  brethren,  but  the  dreadful  moment  had 
now  arrived  when  these  friendly  offices  could  be  no  longer 
performed.  Many  of  the  men  began  to  fall  behind,  and 
those  in  any  condition  to  march  were  scarcely  able  to  sup 
port  themselves;  so  that  it  was  impossible  for  us  to  bring 
them  along,  and  if  we  tarried  with  them  we  must  all  have 
perished.  It  was,  therefore,  given  out  this  morning  by  our 
officers  for  every  man  to  shift  for  himself,  and  save  his  own 
life,  if  possible.  This  measure  opened  upon  us  a  scene  of 
the  bitterest  sorrow.  When  we  moved  off  from  before  them, 
how  did  the  unhappy  companions  of  all  our  toils  and  suffer 
ings  strive  with  all  their  might  to  keep  up  with  us,  and  to 
tread  in  our  footsteps,  calling  out  to  us  as  well  as  their 
feeble  voices  would  allow:  "Will  you  leave  us  to  perish  in 
this  wilderness?"  Never  will  that  heart-piercing  interroga 
tory  forsake  my  memory.  Some  of  those  who  were  advan 
cing  turned  back,  and  declared  that  they  would  prefer  death 
to  leaving  them;  others  stopped  their  ears  and  moved  off 
with  all  the  expedition  in  their  power.  .  .  .  As  we 
advanced,  we  saw  with  bitterest  anguish  their  weak  attempts 
to  follow,  but  a  mountain  closed  the  scene  between  us  and 
many  of  them  forever. 


120        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

With  heavy  laden  hearts  we  marched  on  over  a  succes 
sion  of  hills  and  mountains  enough  to  outdo  the  sturdiest 
traveller.  On  the  way,  passed  by  many  of  the  musketmen 
in  the  most  deplorable  condition,  nearly  exhausted,  and  ex 
posed  to  the  rigours  of  the  season.  We  found  some  of 
them  eating  a  dog,  which  they  had  roasted  entire,  not  hav 
ing  had  anything  to  eat  for  two,  some  three,  days  before. 
I  saw  one  of  them  offer  a  dollar  for  a  bit  of  cake  not 
weighing  more  than  two  ounces,  which  was  refused.  This 
day  we  forced  a  march  of  twenty  miles  and  encamped,  our 
strength  so  reduced  that  but  a  few  of  us  were  able  to  raise 
a  fire.  Our  spirits  were  so  depressed  by  the  occurrences  of 
the  day  that  death  would  have  been  a  welcome  messenger 
to  have  ended  our  woes. 

Nov.  2. — This  morning  when  we  arose  to  resume  our 
march,  many  of  us  were  so  weak  as  to  be  unable  to  stand 
without  support  of  our  guns.  I,  myself,  whom  Providence 
had  endowed  with  an  uncommon  degree  of  strength,  stag 
gered  about  like  a  drunken  man.  We  had  eaten  no  food 
for  several  days.  However,  we  got  on  our  packs  and  set 
out  through  the  woods,  hoping  to  see  some  inhabitants. 
But  we  stumbled  on  over  hill  and  swamp,  mile  after  mile, 
without  any  visible  prospect  of  relief.  This  day  I  roasted 
my  shot  pouch  and  eat  it.  It  was  now  four  days  since  I 
had  eaten  anything,  save  the  skin  of  a  squirrel  I  had  picked 
up  in  a  tent  some  time  before,  and  had  accidentally  put  into 
my  pocket.  A  number  resorted  to  the  same  expedient; 
and  in  a  short  time  there  was  not  a  shot  pouch  to  be  seen 
among  all  those  within  my  view.  This  was  the  last  resort, 
and  approaching  destruction  appeared  to  be  the  only  me 
dium  through  which  we  could  pass  from  our  present  calam 
ities.  Hope  was  now  extinguished  and  its  place  supplied 
with  a  deep  insensibility,  which  is  often,  in  desperate  cases, 
the  precursor  of  some  extraordinary  change.  Before  and 


ARNOLD  SAVES  THE  REMNANT      121 

behind  us  and  on  every  side  of  us  we  could  discover  noth 
ing  but  a  wide  waste,  unadorned  with  the  smoke  of  any 
habitation.  There  was  nothing  in  all  the  gloomy  scenery 
that  surrounded  us  to  interest  the  feeling  for  a  moment, 
or  cast  a  gleam  of  pleasure  upon  the  dejected  soul.  All 
was  silence.  Every  object  tended  to  dismay  the  heart, 
already  too  much  oppressed.  The  light  that  shone  upon  it 
served  but  to  render  its  dreary  aspect  more  visible.  There 
was  nothing  magnificent  to  awake  our  benighted  imagina 
tions,  only  at  times  when  we  gained  the  summit  of  a  huge 
mountain  we  could  discover  the  Chaudiere  veering  its  course 
through  these  lofty  hills,  whose  frowning  brows  seemed  to 
threaten  its  meanderings  with  a  final  stoppage,  whilst  it 
endeavoured,  as  it  were,  to  escape  the  impending  ruin. 

The  Indian  girl  Jacataqua,  whom  we  first  met  at 
Fort  Western,  still  followed  the  army  with  some  of 
her  Indian  relations,  for  she  was  familiar  with  this 
country,  and  was  very  willing  to  give  her  aid  as 
guide.  She  and  her  dog  were  now  constantly  hunt 
ing  for  any  sort  of  meat  for  the  starving  soldiery; 
and,  skilful  with  herbs  and  roots,  she  became  indis 
pensable  to  the  sick.  When,  therefore,  Dearborn's 
dogs  and  those  of  other  soldiers  were  sacrificed,  hers 
escaped,  for  had  sentiment  not  protected  him  her 
announced  intention  to  leave  the  army  should  the 
dog  be  slaughtered  was  a  sure  safeguard. 

By  this  time,  the  2d  of  November,  the  army  was 
scattered  along  the  east  bank  of  the  Chaudiere,  in 
companies  and  squads,  for  a  distance  of  some  forty 
miles,  tracing  their  way  with  ever-failing  strength 
through  the  deer  paths  along  the  water's  edge,  over 

12 


rocky  headlands,  and  through  treacherous  bogs  and 
endless  thickets.  All  their  bateaux,  camp  equipage 
and  provisions  were  gone,  except  here  and  there  a 
tin  camp-kettle  or  an  ax.  Some,  owing  to  their  ship 
wrecks,  were  even  unarmed  and  without  head  cover 
ing;  many  were  barefoot,  their  clothing  torn  by  snags 
and  briers,  while  those  who  had  tried  to  make  food 
of  their  leather  breeches  or  coats  were  in  even  sadder 
plight.  Up  and  down  the  line,  helpless  in  the  woods, 
were  nearly  one  hundred  invalids,  unable  to  proceed 
further.  Where  the  bed  of  the  river,  from  which  its 
waters  had  been  diverted,  offered  some  relief  in  open 
walking  from  the  constant  struggle  through  the  dense 
thickets  and  up  and  down  the  steep  ravines  along  its 
banks,  the  men  availed  themselves  of  the  change,  if 
not  relief,  which  it  offered.  Coming  to  a  long,  sandy 
beach,  some  of  the  men  of  Smith's  company  darted 
from  the  single  file  in  which  they  marched,  and  with 
their  nails  tore  out  of  the  sand-beach  roots  which 
were  eatable  and  ate  them  raw.  Few  knew  the  indi 
cations  which  pointed  to  the  presence  of  these  roots, 
but  as  one  man  sprang  from  the  line  half  a  dozen 
followed,  and  as  he  seized  the  prize  fought  for  its 
possession. 

Once,  "a  mountain,  jutting  in  a  most  precipitate 
form  into  the  river,  compelled  them  to  pass  the  mar 
gin  of  the  stream  upon  a  long  log,  which  had  been 
brought  thither  by  some  former  freshet.  The  bark 
and  limbs  of  the  tree  had  been  worn  away  by  the 
rubbing  of  the  ice,  and  the  trunk  lay  lengthwise 
along  the  narrow  passage,  and,  smooth  and  slippery, 


ARNOLD  SAVES  THE  REMNANT     123 

gorged  the  pass.  This  difficulty  collected  a  hetero 
geneous  mass  of  the  troops,  who  claimed  the  right  of 
passage,  according  to  the  order  of  coming  to  it.  The 
log  was  to  be  footed,  or  the  water  of  the  depth  of 
three  or  four  feet  must  be  waded.  There  was  no 
alternative.  An  eastern  man,  bare-footed,  bare 
headed,  and  thinly  clad,  lean  and  wretched  from 
abstinence,  with  his  musket  in  his  hand,  essayed  to 
pass  on  the  log.  His  foot  slipped  and  he  fell  several 
feet  into  the  water.  Even  his  immediate  friends  and 
comrades,  many  of  whom  were  on  the  log  at  the  same 
moment,  did  not  deign  to  lend  him  an  assisting  hand. 
Death  stared  them  in  the  face.  They  passed  on  re 
gardless  of  his  fate."  Verily  it  was  "sauve  qui 
pent." 

But  they  had  not  proceeded  four  miles  next  day 
before  they  met  Arnold's  relief  party  of  French  Ca 
nadians,  some  afoot  and  some  on  horseback,  with 
sacks  of  flour  thrown  across  their  horses,  driving  up 
the  shore  oxen  and  other  cattle.  "We  with  one  ac 
cord  lifted  up  our  hands  and  eyes  to  heaven,  and 
blessed  that  gracious  God  for  this  great  deliverance," 
writes  Henry.  "Provisions  in  sight!"  "Provisions  in 
sight!"  resounded  from  hill  to  hill.  The  fight  was 
over— they  had  won.  Throwing  down  their  arms, 
they  sprang  forward  like  a  pack  of  famished  wolves, 
struck  down  one  of  the  beasts  in  his  tracks,  and  "had 
its  hide  and  flesh  on  the  fire  boiling  before  the  crea 
ture  was  dead." 

The  generous  Canadians,  excited  by  every  fresh 
evidence  of  suffering,  having  supplied  the  immediate 


124        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

needs  of  these  men,  sprang  upon  their  horses  again, 
and  taking  with  them  such  sustenance  as  was  porta 
ble,  hurried  on  the  assistance  of  those  in  the  rear, 
shouting  encouragement  as  they  reached  the  top  of 
every  hill.  Some  of  them  returned  late  in  the  even 
ing  with  the  bodies  of  half-frozen  and  insensible 
provincials,  slung  in  place  of  their  flour-sacks  across 
their  horses.  They  had  found  them  prone  upon  the 
earth  half  covered  with  snow  and  mire,  their  vitality 
unappreciable  except  by  a  fluttering  pulse  or  strug 
gling  heart-beat.  Others  of  these  good  Samaritans 
pushed  on  to  rescue  those  who  were  still  further  be 
hind,  and  returned  next  morning  with  a  number  of 
those  who,  it  was  thought,  must  inevitably  have  per 
ished.  That  night,  as  those  who  had  already  escaped 
from  this  Valley  of  Death  tended  their  campfires  and 
feasted,  and  moved  like  gaunt  and  hollow-eyed  spec 
ters  between  the  deep  shadows  of  the  forests  and  the 
flaming  firelight,  they  reminded  one  another  so  forci 
bly  of  the  imagined  ghosts  of  their  poor  comrades, 
perforce  deserted,  that  their  joy  in  their  deliverance 
could  find  no  exalted  expression.  Many  a  man, 
though  sleeping  the  sleep  of  extreme  exhaustion,  must 
have  started  and  cried  aloud  as  in  his  dreams  he  saw 
again  the  sights  of  the  past  few  days,  and  seemed  to 
hear  once  more  the  heartrending  entreaties  of  the 
sick  and  helpless. 

The  following  day,  the  4th  of  November,  they 
arrived  at  the  Du  Loup,  a  large  stream  flowing  into 
the  Chaudiere  from,  the  east.  The  weather  was  raw 
and  cold  and  the  water  icy.  But  they  dashed  through 


<  •« 

"»      -Cx, 


w 

u 

W 


ARNOLD  SAVES  THE  REMNANT     125 

this  river  up  to  their  arm-pits,  and  ran  on  for  a  few 
hundred  yards  to  greet  with  three  huzzas  the  first 
house  in  Canada— the  first  house  they  had  seen  for 
thirty  days. 

Captain  Dearborn,  Lieutenant  Hutchins,  Ensign 
Thomas  and  fifty  men  of  Dearborn's  company,  with 
Captain  Smith's  company,  were  the  first  to  arrive  at 
the  house  on  the  Du  Loup.  The  following  day  they 
moved  down  the  river  six  miles  to  Sartigan,  a  settle 
ment  largely  Indian,  where  they  found  Arnold,  who, 
assisted  by  Steele  and  John  M.  Taylor,  of  Smith's 
company,  who  happened  to  be  an  excellent  penman 
and  accountant,  now  named  commissary,  had  been 
rapidly  and  successfully  accumulating  provisions 
against  the  approach  of  the  famished  army.  There 
were  but  three  or  four  small  houses,  built  by  half- 
breeds  or  French  Canadians,  in  Sartigan,  and  the 
Indians  lived  in  wigwams,  so  that  few  of  the  soldiers 
could  be  received  in  the  shelter  of  civilization,  and 
many,  left  out  in  the  cold,  built  bough  huts  and  large 
fires  to  protect  themselves.  A  severe  snowstorm  made 
these  hastily  constructed  abodes  very  uncomfortable, 
but  the  men  who  had  been  snatched  out  of  the  very 
jaws  of  death  were  in  no  mood  to  complain  of  mere 
discomforts. 

Every  day  stragglers,  with  terrible  tales  of  priva 
tion  and  suffering,  made  their  way  across  the  Riviere 
du  Loup  and  came  into  camp.  One  of  them,  Bur- 
deen  by  name,  a  private  in  Topham's  company,  who 
was  supposed  to  have  starved  to  death,  related  how 
he  and  a  comrade,  named  Hart,  both  sick,  kept  to- 


126        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

gether  for  some  time  after  crossing  the  Height  of 
Land.  After  wandering  for  several  days  Hart  suc 
cumbed  to  a  violent  cramp,  which  had  long  tortured 
him.  Burdeen  and  five  other  riflemen  who  had  joined 
them  left  the  unfortunate  man  dead.  Shortly  after 
they  came  upon  another  corpse,  a  victim  of  hunger 
and  sickness,  one  of  Captain  llendricks'  company. 
As  they  still  advanced  they  were  astonished  to  find  a 
stray  horse,  which  had  providentially  run  away  from 
the  Frenchmen  who  brought  out  the  provisions.  The 
party  shot  it  and  ate  heartily  of  the  flesh  for  three  or 
four  days  while  they  rested.  Seven  or  eight  more 
sick  men  came  up,  and  the  horse  flesh  saved  their 
lives  as  well.  For  seven  days  previous  these  men  had 
no  sort  of  nourishment  but  roots  and  black  birch  bark, 
which  they  boiled  and  drank.  Burdeen  reported  that 
he  had  seen  twelve  dead  bodies  along  the  road  over 
which  he  had  come. 


CHAPTER  IX 


DESCENDING  THE  CHAUDIEEE 

N  Saturday,  November  4,  the  Abenaki 
savages,  among  them  the  dreaded  Na- 
tanis  and  his  brother  Sabattis,  in  gor 
geous  finery,  assembled  at  Colonel  Ar 
nold's  headquarters,  about  five  miles 
below  Sartigan,  and  demanded  through  an  interpreter 
the  intention  of  the  Americans  in  coming  among  them 
in  hostile  manner,  pretending  they  were  unacquainted 
with  those  intentions.  Among  them,  also,  was  Eneas, 
who  with  Sabattis  had  been  despatched  express  from 
Norridgewock  with  letters  to  Quebec.  After  an  oration 
delivered  with  much  pomp  and  circumstance  by  one  of 
the  chiefs,  surrounded  by  his  followers,  Arnold  re 
turned  the  following  diplomatic,  though  not  strictly 
ingenuous  and  truthful,  reply: 

Friends  and  Brethren: — I  feel  myself  very  happy  in 
meeting  with  so  many  of  my  brethren  from  the  different 
quarters  of  the  great  country,  and  more  so  as  I  find  we 
meet  as  friends,  and  that  we  are  equally  concerned  in  this 
expedition.  Brethren,  we  are  the  children  of  those  people, 
who  have  now  taken  up  the  hatchet  against  us.  More  than 
one  hundred  years  ago  we  were  all  as  one  family.  We 
then  differed  in  our  religion  and  came  over  to  this  country 
by  consent  of  the  King.  Our  fathers  bought  lands  of  the 

127 


128        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

savages  and  have  become  a  great  people,— even  as  the  stars 
in  the  sky.  We  have  planted  the  ground  and  by  our  labor 
grown  rich.  Now  a  King  and  his  wicked  great  men  want 
to  take  our  lands  and  money  without  our  consent.  This 
we  think  unjust  and  all  our  great  men  from  the  River 
St.  Lawrence  to  the  Mississippi,  met  together  at  Phila 
delphia,  where  they  all  talked  together,  and  sent  a  prayer 
to  the  King,  that  they  would  be  brothers  and  fight  for 
him,  but  would  not  give  up  their  lands  and  money.  The 
King  would  not  hear  our  prayer,  but  sent  a  great  army  to 
Boston,  and  endeavored  to  set  our  brethren  against  us  in 
Canada.  The  King's  army  at  Boston  came  out  into  the 
fields  and  houses,  and  killed  a  great  many  Avomen  and 
children,  while  they  were  peaceably  at  work.  The  Bos- 
tonians  sent  to  their  brethren  in  the  country,  and  they  came 
in  unto  their  relief,  and  in  six  days  raised  an  army  of  fifty 
thousand  men  and  drove  the  King's  troops  on  board  their 
ships,  and  killed  and  wounded  fifteen  hundred  of  their  men. 
Since  that  they  durst  not  come  out  of  Boston.  Now  we 
hear  that  the  French  and  Indians  in  Canada  have  sent  to 
us,  that  the  King's  troops  oppress  them  and  make  them  pay 
a  great  price  for  their  rum,  etc.,  and  press  them  to  take  up 
arms  against  the  Bostonians,  their  brethren,  who  have  done 
them  no  hurt.  By  the  desire  of  the  French  and  Indians, 
our  brethren,  we  have  come  to  their  assistance  with  an  intent 
to  drive  out  the  King's  soldiers;  when  drove  off  we  will 
return  to  our  own  country  and  leave  this  to  the  peaceful 
enjoyment  of  its  proper  inhabitants.  Now  if  the  Indians, 
our  brethren,  will  join  us,  we  will  be  very  much  obliged 
to  them,  and  will  give  them  one  Portuguese  per  month, 
two  dollars  bounty,  and  find  them  their  provisions,  and 
their  liberty  to  choose  their  own  officers. 


ARNOLD  SAVES  THE  REMNANT      121 

behind  us  and  on  every  side  of  us  we  could  discover  noth 
ing  but  a  wide  waste,  unadorned  with  the  smoke  of  any 
habitation.  There  was  nothing  in  all  the  gloomy  scenery 
that  surrounded  us  to  interest  the  feeling  for  a  moment, 
or  cast  a  gleam  of  pleasure  upon  the  dejected  soul.  All 
was  silence.  Every  object  tended  to  dismay  the  heart, 
already  too  much  oppressed.  The  light  that  shone  upon  it 
served  but  to  render  its  dreary  aspect  more  visible.  There 
was  nothing  magnificent  to  awake  our  benighted  imagina 
tions,  only  at  times  when  we  gained  the  summit  of  a  huge 
mountain  we  could  discover  the  Chaudiere  veering  its  course 
through  these  lofty  hills,  whose  frowning  brows  seemed  to 
threaten  its  meanderings  with  a  final  stoppage,  whilst  it 
endeavoured,  as  it  were,  to  escape  the  impending  ruin. 

The  Indian  girl  Jacataqua,  whom  we  first  met  at 
Fort  Western,  still  followed  the  army  with  some  of 
her  Indian  relations,  for  she  was  familiar  with  this 
country,  and  was  very  willing  to  give  her  aid  as 
guide.  She  and  her  dog  were  now  constantly  hunt 
ing  for  any  sort  of  meat  for  the  starving  soldiery; 
and,  skilful  with  herbs  and  roots,  she  became  indis 
pensable  to  the  sick.  When,  therefore,  Dearborn's 
dogs  and  those  of  other  soldiers  were  sacrificed,  hers 
escaped,  for  had  sentiment  not  protected  him  her 
announced  intention  to  leave  the  army  should  the 
dog  be  slaughtered  was  a  sure  safeguard. 

By  this  time,  the  2d  of  November,  the  army  was 
scattered  along  the  east  bank  of  the  Chaudiere,  in 
companies  and  squads,  for  a  distance  of  some  forty 
miles,  tracing  their  way  with  ever-failing  strength 
through  the  deer  paths  along  the  water's  edge,  over 
12 


122        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION   TO    QUEBEC 

rocky  headlands,  and  through  treacherous  bogs  and 
endless  thickets.  All  their  bateaux,  camp  equipage 
and  provisions  were  gone,  except  here  and  there  a 
tin  camp-kettle  or  an  ax.  Some,  owing  to  their  ship 
wrecks,  were  even  unarmed  and  without  head  cover 
ing;  many  were  barefoot,  their  clothing  torn  by  snags 
and  briers,  while  those  who  had  tried  to  make  food 
of  their  leather  breeches  or  coats  were  in  even  sadder 
plight.  Up  and  down  the  line,  helpless  in  the  woods, 
were  nearly  one  hundred  invalids,  unable  to  proceed 
further.  Where  the  bed  of  the  river,  from  which  its 
waters  had  been  diverted,  offered  some  relief  in  open 
walking  from  the  constant  struggle  through  the  dense 
thickets  and  up  and  down  the  steep  ravines  along  its 
banks,  the  men  availed  themselves  of  the  change,  if 
not  relief,  which  it  offered.  Coming  to  a  long,  sandy 
beach,  some  of  the  men  of  Smith's  company  darted 
from  the  single  file  in  which  they  marched,  and  with 
their  nails  tore  out  of  the  sand-beach  roots  which 
were  eatable  and  ate  them  raw.  Few  knew  the  indi 
cations  which  pointed  to  the  presence  of  these  roots, 
but  as  one  man  sprang  from  the  line  half  a  dozen 
followed,  and  as  he  seized  the  prize  fought  for  its 
possession. 

Once,  "a  mountain,  jutting  in  a  most  precipitate 
form  into  the  river,  compelled  them  to  pass  the  mar 
gin  of  the  stream  upon  a  long  log,  which  had  been 
brought  thither  by  some  former  freshet.  The  bark 
and  limbs  of  the  tree  had  been  worn  away  by  the 
rubbing  of  the  ice,  and  the  trunk  lay  lengthwise 
along  the  narrow  passage,  and,  smooth  and  slippery, 


ARNOLD  SAVES  THE  REMNANT      123 

gorged  the  pass.  This  difficulty  collected  a  hetero 
geneous  mass  of  the  troops,  who  claimed  the  right  of 
passage,  according  to  the  order  of  coming  to  it.  The 
log  was  to  be  footed,  or  the  water  of  the  depth  of 
three  or  four  feet  must  be  waded.  There  was  no 
alternative.  An  eastern  man,  bare-footed,  bare 
headed,  and  thinly  clad,  lean  and  wretched  from 
abstinence,  with  his  musket  in  his  hand,  essayed  to 
pass  on  the  log.  His  foot  slipped  and  he  fell  several 
feet  into  the  water.  Even  his  immediate  friends  and 
comrades,  many  of  whom  were  on  the  log  at  the  same 
moment,  did  not  deign  to  lend  him  an  assisting  hand. 
Death  stared  them  in  the  face.  They  passed  on  re 
gardless  of  his  fate."  Verily  it  was  "sauve  qui 
pent." 

But  they  had  not  proceeded  four  miles  next  day 
before  they  met  Arnold's  relief  party  of  French  Ca 
nadians,  some  afoot  and  some  on  horseback,  with 
sacks  of  flour  thrown  across  their  horses,  driving  up 
the  shore  oxen  and  other  cattle.  "We  with  one  ac 
cord  lifted  up  our  hands  and  eyes  to  heaven,  and 
blessed  that  gracious  God  for  this  great  deliverance," 
writes  Henry.  "Provisions  in  sight!"  "Provisions  in 
sight!"  resounded  from  hill  to  hill.  The  fight  was 
over— they  had  won.  Throwing  down  their  arms, 
they  sprang  forward  like  a  pack  of  famished  wolves, 
struck  down  one  of  the  beasts  in  his  tracks,  and  "had 
its  hide  and  flesh  on  the  fire  boiling  before  the  crea 
ture  was  dead." 

The  generous  Canadians,  excited  by  every  fresh 
evidence  of  suffering,  having  supplied  the  immediate 


124        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

needs  of  these  men,  sprang  upon  their  horses  again, 
and  taking  with  them  such  sustenance  as  was  porta 
ble,  hurried  on  the  assistance  of  those  in  the  rear, 
shouting  encouragement  as  they  reached  the  top  of 
every  hill.  Some  of  them  returned  late  in  the  even 
ing  with  the  bodies  of  half-frozen  and  insensible 
provincials,  slung  in  place  of  their  flour-sacks  across 
their  horses.  They  had  found  them  prone  upon  the 
earth  half  covered  with  snow  and  mire,  their  vitality 
unappreciable  except  by  a  fluttering  pulse  or  strug 
gling  heart-beat.  Others  of  these  good  Samaritans 
pushed  on  to  rescue  those  who  were  still  further  be 
hind,  and  returned  next  morning  with  a  number  of 
those  who,  it  was  thought,  must  inevitably  have  per 
ished.  That  night,  as  those  who  had  already  escaped 
from  this  Valley  of  Death  tended  their  campiires  and 
feasted,  and  moved  like  gaunt  and  hollow-eyed  spec 
ters  between  the  deep  shadows  of  the  forests  and  the 
flaming  firelight,  they  reminded  one  another  so  forci 
bly  of  the  imagined  ghosts  of  their  poor  comrades, 
perforce  deserted,  that  their  joy  in  their  deliverance 
could  find  no  exalted  expression.  Many  a  man, 
though  sleeping  the  sleep  of  extreme  exhaustion,  must 
have  started  and  cried  aloud  as  in  his  dreams  he  saw 
again  the  sights  of  the  past  few  days,  and  seemed  to 
hear  once  more  the  heartrending  entreaties  of  the 
sick  and  helpless. 

The  following  day,  the  4th  of  November,  they 
arrived  at  the  Du  Loup,  a  large  stream  flowing  into 
the  Chaudiere  from  the  east.  The  weather  was  raw 
and  cold  and  the  water  icy.  But  they  dashed  through 


o 


W   "I 


Q 


tj  -•» 

w  * 

w  3 

^  I 


ARNOLD  SAVES  THE  REMNANT     125 

this  river  up  to  their  arm-pits,  and  ran  on  for  a  few 
hundred  yards  to  greet  with  three  huzzas  the  first 
house  in  Canada — the  first  house  they  had  seen  for 
thirty  days. 

Captain  Dearborn,  Lieutenant  Hutchins,  Ensign 
Thomas  and  fifty  men  of  Dearborn's  company,  with 
Captain  Smith's  company,  were  the  first  to  arrive  at 
the  house  on  the  Du  Loup.  The  following  day  they 
moved  down  the  river  six  miles  to  Sartigan,  a  settle 
ment  largely  Indian,  where  they  found  Arnold,  who, 
assisted  by  Steele  and  John  M.  Taylor,  of  Smith's 
company,  who  happened  to  be  an  excellent  penman 
and  accountant,  now  named  commissary,  had  been 
rapidly  and  successfully  accumulating  provisions 
against  the  approach  of  the  famished  army.  There 
were  but  three  or  four  small  houses,  built  by  half- 
breeds  or  French  Canadians,  in  Sartigan,  and  the 
Indians  lived  in  wigwams,  so  that  few  of  the  soldiers 
could  be  received  in  the  shelter  of  civilization,  and 
many,  left  out  in  the  cold,  built  bough  huts  and  large 
fires  to  protect  themselves.  A  severe  snowstorm  made 
these  hastily  constructed  abodes  very  uncomfortable, 
but  the  men  who  had  been  snatched  out  of  the  very 
jaws  of  death  were  in  no  mood  to  complain  of  mere 
discomforts. 

Every  day  stragglers,  with  terrible  tales  of  priva 
tion  and  suffering,  made  their  way  across  the  Riviere 
du  Loup  and  came  into  camp.  One  of  them,  Bur- 
deen  by  name,  a  private  in  Topham's  company,  who 
was  supposed  to  have  starved  to  death,  related  how 
he  and  a  comrade,  named  Hart,  both  sick,  kept  to- 


126        AENOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

getlier  for  some  time  after  crossing  the  Height  of 
Land.  After  wandering  for  several  days  Hart  suc 
cumbed  to  a  violent  cramp,  which  had  long  tortured 
him.  Burdeen  and  five  other  riflemen  who  had  joined 
them  left  the  unfortunate  man  dead.  Shortly  after 
they  came  upon  another  corpse,  a  victim  of  hunger 
and  sickness,  one  of  Captain  Hendricks'  company. 
As  they  still  advanced  they  were  astonished  to  find  a 
stray  horse,  which  had  providentially  run  away  from 
the  Frenchmen  who  brought  out  the  provisions.  The 
party  shot  it  and  ate  heartily  of  the  flesh  for  three  or 
four  days  while  they  rested.  Seven  or  eight  more 
sick  men  came  up,  and  the  horse  flesh  saved  their 
lives  as  well.  For  seven  days  previous  these  men  had 
no  sort  of  nourishment  but  roots  and  black  birch  bark, 
which  they  boiled  and  drank.  Burdeen  reported  that 
he  had  seen  twelve  dead  bodies  along  the  road  over 
which  he  had  come. 


CHAPTER  IX 
DESCENDING  THE  CHAUDIEEE 


N  Saturday,  November  4,  the  Abenaki 
savages,  among  them  the  dreaded  Na- 
tanis  and  his  brother  Sabattis,  in  gor 
geous  finery,  assembled  at  Colonel  Ar 
nold's  headquarters,  about  five  miles 
below  Sartigan,  and  demanded  through  an  interpreter 
the  intention  of  the  Americans  in  coming  among  them 
in  hostile  manner,  pretending  they  were  unacquainted 
with  those  intentions.  Among  them,  also,  was  Eneas, 
who  with  Sabattis  had  been  despatched  express  from 
Norridgewock  with  letters  to  Quebec.  After  an  oration 
delivered  with  much  pomp  and  circumstance  by  one  of 
the  chiefs,  surrounded  by  his  followers,  Arnold  re 
turned  the  following  diplomatic,  though  not  strictly 
ingenuous  and  truthful,  reply: 

Friends  and  Brethren:—!,  feel  myself  very  happy  in 
meeting  with  so  many  of  my  brethren  from  the  different 
quarters  of  the  great  country,  and  more  so  as  I  find  we 
meet  as  friends,  and  that  we  are  equally  concerned  in  this 
expedition.  Brethren,  we  are  the  children  of  those  people, 
who  have  now  taken  up  the  hatchet  against  us.  More  than 
one  hundred  years  ago  we  were  all  as  one  family.  We 
then  differed  in  our  religion  and  came  over  to  this  country 
by  consent  of  the  King.  Our  fathers  bought  lands  of  the 

127 


128        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

savages  and  have  become  a  great  people,— even  as  the  stars 
in  the  sky.  We  have  planted  the  ground  and  by  our  labor 
grown  rich.  Now  a  King  and  his  wicked  great  men  want 
to  take  our  lands  and  money  without  our  consent.  This 
we  think  unjust  and  all  our  great  men  from  the  River 
St.  Lawrence  to  the  Mississippi,  met  together  at  Phila 
delphia,  where  they  all  talked  together,  and  sent  a  prayer 
to  the  King,  that  they  would  be  brothers  and  fight  for 
him,  but  would  not  give  up  their  lands  and  money.  The 
King  would  not  hear  our  prayer,  but  sent  a  great  army  to 
Boston,  and  endeavored  to  set  our  brethren  against  us  in 
Canada.  The  King's  army  at  Boston  came  out  into  the 
fields  and  houses,  and  killed  a  great  many  women  and 
children,  while  they  were  peaceably  at  work.  The  Bos- 
tonians  sent  to  their  brethren  in  the  country,  and  they  came 
in  unto  their  relief,  and  in  six  days  raised  an  army  of  fifty 
thousand  men  and  drove  the  King's  troops  on  board  their 
ships,  and  killed  and  wounded  fifteen  hundred  of  their  men. 
Since  that  they  durst  not  come  out  of  Boston.  Now  we 
hear  that  the  French  and  Indians  in  Canada  have  sent  to 
us,  that  the  King's  troops  oppress  them  and  make  them  pay 
a  great  price  for  their  rum,  etc.,  and  press  them  to  take  up 
arms  against  the  Bostonians,  their  brethren,  who  have  done 
them  no  hurt.  By  the  desire  of  the  French  and  Indians, 
our  brethren,  we  have  come  to  their  assistance  with  an  intent 
to  drive  out  the  King's  soldiers;  when  drove  off  we  will 
return  to  our  own  country  and  leave  this  to  the  peaceful 
enjoyment  of  its  proper  inhabitants.  Now  if  the  Indians, 
our  brethren,  will  join  us,  we  will  be  very  much  obliged 
to  them,  and  will  give  them  one  Portuguese  per  month, 
two  dollars  bounty,  and  find  them  their  provisions,  and 
their  liberty  to  choose  their  OAvn  officers. 


DESCENDING   THE    CHAUDIERE  129 

Arnold's  speech  to  the  chiefs  had  the  desired  ef 
fect  and  about  forty  of  the  Indians  took  their  canoes 
and  joined  the  force  moving  down  the  river.  The 
Indians  were  quick  to  find  a  name  for  Arnold  and 
called  him  the  "Dark  Eagle,"  suggested,  perhaps,  by 
the  cast  of  his  features  and  his  keen  and  penetrating 
eye.  Natanis  at  the  first  interview  had,  according  to 
tradition,  addressed  him  thus: 

"The  Dark  Eagle  comes  to  claim  the  wilderness. 
The  wilderness  will  yield  to  the  Dark  Eagle,  but  the 
Rock  will  defy  him.  The  Dark  Eagle  will  soar  aloft 
to  the  sun.  Nations  will  behold  him  and  sound  his 
praises.  Yet  when  he  soars  highest  his  fall  is  most 
certain.  When  his  wings  brush  the  sky  then  the 
arrow  will  pierce  his  heart."  A  baleful  prophecy 
which,  delivered  with  the  characteristic  impressive- 
ness  of  the  Indian  orator,  must  somewhat  have  dashed 
the  spirits  of  the  young  officer. 

November  5,  Arnold  despatched  expresses  up  the 
river  to  hurry  on  the  stragglers  and  scattered  parties. 
An  express  reached  him  with  news  that  Mr.  Bob- 
bisho,*  an  express  sent  to  Montgomery  from  Sartigan, 
was  taken  prisoner.  This  threw  the  people  into  a 
panic,  as  they  heard  that  the  English  were  deter 
mined  to  burn  and  destroy  all  the  inhabitants  in  the 
vicinity  of  Quebec,  unless  they  came  and  took  up 
arms  in  defense  of  the  garrison.  The  poor,  innocent 
French-Canadian  habitants  in  the  lower  Chaudiere 
valley  scarcely  knew  which  way  to  turn;  from  the  St. 
Lawrence  came  such  reports  of  the  rigorous  treat- 

*  This  name  should  probably  be  Robichaud  [Eo.]. 
13 


130        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION   TO    QUEBEC 

ment  they  might  expect  from  the  English,  while  from 
the  upper  Chaudiere  spread  the  first  rumors  of  the 
arrival  and  of  the  character  of  the  mysterious  Ameri 
can  army,  "vetu  en  tole  (toile)"  (clothed  in  mail),  an 
allusion  to  the  canvas  frocks  of  the  riflemen.  This  ru 
mor  lost  no  credit  by  what  seemed,  even  to  the  hardy 
French  voyageurs,  a  feat  only  to  be  accomplished  by 
men  of  a  race  endowed  with  superhuman  powers  of 
strength  and  endurance — the  passage  of  an  army 
through  the  solitary  and  unbroken  wilderness  of  the 
Chaudiere  streams  and  Dead  Eiver!  "Surely,"  said 
they,  "God  is  with  this  people,  or  they  could  never 
have  done  what  they  have  done. ' ' 

Thus  impressed,  the  Canadians  received  the  way 
worn  soldiers  with  kindness,  and  saw  to  it  that  their 
wants  were  well  supplied,  though  they  were  not  averse 
to  receiving  fair  pay  for  their  provisions.  One  diarist 
pithily  remarks,  "the  people  are  civil,  but  mighty 
extravagant  with  what  they  have  to  sell."  The  mani- 
fe*sto  written  at  Cambridge,  and  now  freely  distributed, 
was  reassuring,  and  there  was  much  fraternal  spirit 
shown  on  both  sides.  The  march  of  the  army  through 
that  peaceful,  sleepy  valley  was  long  referred  to  as 
an  epoch— "the  coming  of  les  bons  Bostowiais." 

Many  of  the  emaciated  soldiers,  voracious,  insa 
tiable,  utterly  regardless  of  the  threats  and  entreaties 
of  their  officers,  gorged  themselves  with  the  unlimited 
food  provided,  and  several  in  consequence,  after  having 
fought  and  conquered  starvation,  fell  victims  to  fevers 
caused  by  repletion,  and  died  within  a  few  days  after 


DESCENDING    THE    CHAUDIERE  131 

reaching  Sartigan.  Among  those  who  narrowly  es 
caped  death  by  such  folly  was,  as  he  himself  tells 
us,  young  Henry,  whose  journal  we  have  frequently 
quoted.  In  his  extremity  he  was  found  by  Arnold  him 
self,  who  gave  him  in  charge  of  a  friendly  Canadian, 
whose  care  and  treatment  saved  the  young  man's  life. 

The  lower  valley  of  the  Chaudiere  is  a  flat  and  fer 
tile  country,  then  sprinkled  at  long  intervals  with 
straggling  clusters  of  low  houses,  all  whitewashed 
and  for  the  most  part  thatched.  Every  now  and  then 
a  chapel  came  in  sight,  but  more  frequently  rude 
roadside  crucifixes  or  images  of  the  Virgin,  strange 
sights  to  the  orthodox  New  England  soldiery  and  the 
Scotch  Presbyterians  of  Pennsylvania.  The  river 
ceased  to  curl  madly  over  rock  and  shingle,  and 
though  still  white  with  foam,  became  quieter  and 
broader  as  the  advancing  troops  left  league  .after 
league  behind  them.  After  leaving  Sartigan  and 
passing  the  St.  Francis  rapids,  boats  when  they  could 
be  obtained,  were  used. 

Arnold  and  some  of  his  officers  reached  St.  Marie 
the  5th  of  November,  and  were  entertained  hand 
somely  by  Messire  Gabriel  Eleazar  Taschereau,  a  seig 
neur  of  the  old  regime,  whose  domain  included  large 
tracts  of  farming  land  in  that  vicinity.  At  St.  Marie 
Arnold  received  by  an  Indian  messenger  the  first  news 
he  had  had  from  General  Montgomery  since  the  expedi 
tion  left  Cambridge  six  weeks  before.  The  news,  more 
over,  was  good,  for  it  told  of  the  successful  advance 
of  Montgomery's  forces  into  Canada  and  the  capture 
of  Chambly,  tidings  which  mightily  raised  the  spirits 


132        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

of  the  young  commander  on  the  Chaudiere,  who  had 
of  ]ate  found  so  much  reason  for  anxiety  and  depres 
sion.  A  letter  was  at  once  despatched  in  reply,  of 
which  this  is  the  substance : 

Dear  Sir:— Your  favor  of  the  29th  ult.  I  received  at  1 
o'clock  this  morning,  which  gave  me  much  pleasure.  I 
heartily  congratulate  you  on  your  success  thus  far.  I  think 
you  had  great  reason  to  be  apprehensive  for  me,  the  time 
I  mentioned  to  Gen'l  Washington  being  so  long  since 
•elapsed.  I  was  not  then  apprised  or  even  apprehensive  of 
one-half  of  the  difficulties  we  had  to  encounter;  of  which 
I  cannot  at  present  give  you  a  particular  detail — can  only 
say  we  have  hauled  our  bateaux  over  falls,  up  rapid  streams, 
over  carrying  places,  and  marched  through  morasses,  thick 
woods,  and  over  mountains,  about  320  miles,  many  of  which 
we  had  to  pass  several  times  to  bring  our  baggage.  These 
difficulties  the  soldiers  have,  with  the  greatest  fortitude, 
surmounted.  About  two-thirds  of  the  detachment  are, 
happily,  arrived  here  and  within  two  days'  march,  most  of 
them  in  good  health  and  high  spirits.  The  other  part,  with 
Col.  Enos,  returned  from  the  Dead  River,  contrary  to  my 
•expectation,  he  having  orders  to  send  back  only  the  sick 
and  those  that  could  not  be  furnished  with  provisions.  I 
wrote  Gen.  Schuyler,  the  13th  of  October,  by  an  Indian  I 
thought  trusty,  enclosed  to  my  friend  in  Quebec;  and  as  I 
have  had  no  answer  from  either,  and  he  pretends  being 
taken  at  Quebec,  I  make  no  doubt  he  has  betrayed  his 
trust,  which  I  am  confirmed  in,  as  I  find  they  have  been 
some  time  apprised  of  our  coming  in  Quebec,  and  have  de 
stroyed  all  the  canoes  at  Point  Levi,  to  prevent  our  pass 
ing.  This  difficulty  will  be  obviated  by  birch  canoes,  as 
we  have  about  twenty  of  them  with  forty  savages,  who  have 
joined  us,  and  profess  great  friendship,  as  well  as  the  Ca- 


DESCENDING    THE    CHAUDIERE  133 

nadians,  by  whom  we  have  been  very  friendly  received,  and 
who  will  be  able  to  furnish  us  with  a  number  of  canoes. 

I  am  informed  by  the  French,  that  there  are  two  frig 
ates  and  several  small  armed  vessels  lying  before  Quebec, 
and  a  large  ship  or  two  lately  arrived  from  Boston.  How 
ever,  I  propose  crossing  the  St.  Lawrence  as  soon  as  pos 
sible;  and  if  no  opportunity  offers  of  attacking  Quebec 
with  success,  shall  endeavor  to  join  your  army  at  Montreal. 

1  shall  as  often  as  in  my  power  advise  you  of  my  proceed 
ings,  and  beg  the  favor  of  hearing  from  you  by  every  op 
portunity. 

I  am,  dear  Sir,  very  respectfully, 

Your  most  ob'd't,  humble  servant, 

B.  ARNOLD. 

P.  S.— Since  writing  the  above,  I  have  seen  a  friend 
from  Quebec,  who  informs  me  a  frigate  of  26  guns  and 

2  transports   with    150   recruits   arrived    from    St.    John's, 
Newfoundland,    last    Sunday,    which    with   the    inhabitants, 
who  have  been  compelled  to  take  up  arms,  amount  to  about 
300  men;  that  the  French  and  English  inhabitants  in  gen 
eral  are  on  our  side,  and  that  the  city  is  short  of  provi 
sions.       I   shall   endeavor   to   cut   off   their   communication 
with  the  country,  and  make  no  doubt,  if  no  more  recruits 
arrive,  to  bring  them  to  terms  soon,  or  at  least  keep  them 
in  close  quarters  until  your  arrival  here,  which  I  shall  wait 
with  impatience. 

Montgomery  had  reached  the  Isle-aux-Noix  on  the 
10th  of  September— that  is  to  say,  before  Arnold 
had  left  Cambridge.  His  army  then  consisted  of 
about  fourteen  hundred  men.  These  were  reinforced 
by  Colonel  Livingston's  company  of  New  Yorkers,  170 
Green  Mountain  Boys  under  Colonel  Seth  Warner, 
Captain  Allen's  company  of  the  same  corps  raised 


134        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

in  Connecticut,  about  one  hundred  men  of  Colonel 
Bedel's  from  New  Hampshire,  and  a  company  of 
artillery  under  Captain  Lamb.  Montgomery's  whole 
force  did  not  exceed  eighteen  hundred  men.  Nearly 
eight  hundred  of  these  up  to  September  26,  by  reason 
of  smallpox,  camp  disorders,  and  swamp  fever,  con 
tracted  in  the  low,  marshy  encampment  at  Isle-aux- 
Noix,  were  found  unfit  for  duty  and  discharged. 

On  the  3d  of  November  St.  John's  was  taken  by 
this  army,  after  a  short  resistance,  and  Montgomery 
without  loss  of  time  pushed  on  for  Montreal. 

As  he  advanced,  a  few  hundred  Canadian  rebels, 
under  Lieutenant-Colonel  James  Livingston,  formerly 
of  Montreal,  aided  by  Colonel  Easton  and  Major  John 
Brown,  whom  Montgomery  had  detailed  for  the  duty, 
executed  a  flank  movement,  primarily  directed  against 
the  British  post,  old  Fort  Pontchartrain,  at  Chambly, 
which  they  easily  took.  They  pressed  on  from  thence 
towards  Sorel,  where  it  was  known  that  an  energetic 
and  enterprising  Scot,  one  Lieutenant-Colonel  Allan 
McLean,  of  the  garrison  of  Quebec,  was  making  great 
exertions  to  recruit  a  regiment  from  the  families  of 
those  Highlanders  who,  after  the  Peace,  had  emigrated 
and  settled  in  Canada,  and  from  native  Canadians  of 
British  descent. 

"When  Arnold  replied  to  Montgomery's  letter  he 
naturally  could  think  of  no  more  trusty  couriers,  none 
more  familiar  with  the  route  they  would  have  to 
traverse,  than  the  very  Indians  who  had  brought  the 
welcome  news  of  American  success.  He  accordingly 


DESCENDING    THE    CHAUDIEBE  135 

sent  them  back  to  Montgomery,  with  his  letter  to 
him  of  November  8  from  St.  Marie  and  its  enclosure 
to  General  Washington.  But  one  of  these  Indians, 
an  Indian  of  Lorette,  who  happened  to  be  the  actual 
bearer  of  the  despatches,  meeting  with  some  of 
McLean's  men  on  their  return  journey,  and  not 
unreasonably  mistaking  them  for  friends,  was  con 
ducted  to  Colonel  McLean,  to  whom  he  delivered 
the  letters.  He  and  his  companions  were  promptly 
secured. 

No  doubt  Carleton,  though  probably  already  ad 
vised  of  Arnold's  presence  on  the  Dead  River,  by  a 
courier  from  Lieutenant-Governor  Cramahe,  was  has 
tened  in  his  decision  to  abandon  Montreal  to  Mont 
gomery  by  a  second  courier,  conveying  the  valuable 
information  thus  gained  by  McLean.  That  officer's 
own  determination  not  to  await  Easton  at  Sorel  but 
to  hasten  to  reinforce  threatened  Quebec,  was  beyond 
question  the  result  of  the  unfortunate  miscarriage  of 
Arnold's  correspondence,  and  his  presence  within  the 
city  was,  as  we  shall  see,  a  matter  of  the  gravest 
importance  when  the  provincials  at  length  appeared 
before  its  walls. 

From  St.  Marie  Arnold's  army  had  still  thirty 
miles  to  travel  before  reaching  Point  Levi— opposite 
Quebec  on  the  St.  Lawrence.  Morning  orders  on  the 
6th  were  simple, — "  every  captain  to  get  his  company 
on  as  fast  as  possible."  Not  so  much  as  a  minute 
could  now  be  wasted  with  safety,  if  they  were  to 
reach  Quebec  before  it  was  reinforced.  The  wretched 


136        ARNOLD'S   EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

roads  were  mire  and  snow  to  the  bellies  of  the  horses 
which  some  of  the  officers  had  hired  from  the  peas 
ants  and  rode  bareback,  or  with  sacking  and  rope, 
for  want  of  saddles.  It  snowed  heavily,  but  the  men's 
stomachs  were  full,  their  limbs  refreshed  and  spirits 
animated  by  four  days  of  rest  and  the  kindly  hospi 
tality  of  the  Canadians,  and  they  covered  eighteen 
miles  on  the  7th,  in  spite  of  these  difficulties. 

Captain  Thayer  was  sent  back  to  Sartigan  to  su 
perintend  the  conveyance  of  the  sick,  but  next  day  at 
St.  Marie  met  Major  Meigs,  who  had  anticipated  this 
duty,  with  ninety-six  invalids.  Meigs  had  purchased 
twenty  canoes  on  his  way  up  and  down  the  river.  A 
succession  of  rapids  made  the  navigation  of  the  river 
difficult  and  perilous,  so  with  four  men  under  each 
canoe,  these  invalids  lugged  their  craft  from  St. 
Marie,  twelve  miles,  along  the  river  bank  without 
meeting  a  house;  then,  leaving  the  river  and  follow 
ing  the  main  body  eastward,  they  again  entered  the 
forest,  through  which  they  made  the  best  of  their  way 
over  a  swampy  road,  without  seeing  another  house 
for  fifteen  miles,  till  they  reached  St.  Henri,  and  con 
tinued  on  from  thence  to  Point  Levi,  a  total  carry  of 
thirty  miles. 

Snow  had  been  falling  or  had  lain  on  the  ground 
ever  since  the  22d  of  October,  and  the  severe  Canadian 
winter  had  begun.  The  head  of  the  column  overtook 
Colonel  Arnold  and  an  advance  party  on  the  6th;  on 
the  7th  they  passed  the  night  within  nine  miles  of 
Quebec,  and  on  the  8th— now  advancing  more  cau 
tiously—halted  within  three  miles  of  the  St.  Lawrence. 


From  the  original  by  Rembrandt  Peale. 


DESCENDING    THE    CHAUDIERE  137 

Here  Arnold  left  them  again,  and,  with  a  lieutenant 
and  twenty  men,  went  forward  to  reconnoiter  Point 
Levi,  which  he  reached  about  two  o'clock  in  the 
morning.  From  the  bank  of  the  St.  Lawrence, 
reached  at  last,  he  promptly  despatched  a  letter  to 
General  Washington,  informing  him  of  his  safe  arrival 
before  Quebec  and  giving  substantially  the  same  account 
of  his  movements  and  his  prospects  as  was  contained 
in  the  letter  to  General  Montgomery  quoted  above. 

All  night  the  troops  lay  upon  their  arms  awaiting 
orders,  but  on  the  morning  of  the  9th,  which  dawned 
thick  and  cloudy,  word  that  the  coast  was  clear  came 
back  from  Arnold.  The  whole  army  now  advanced  to 
Point  Levi,  a  promontory  on  the  St.  Lawrence,  about 
four  miles  east  of  the  Falls  of  the  Chaudiere,  which 
tumble  headlong  a  distance  of  nearly  one  hundred  and 
thirty-five  feet  into  the  great  river  below.  Guards 
were  immediately  posted  along  the  St.  Lawrence,  and 
as  fast  as  troops  came  up  they  were  assigned  to  quar 
ters  in  farmhouses  scattered  along  the  riverside  for  a 
distance  of  a  mile  or  more.  By  the  13th  all  the  sur 
vivors  except  a  few,  who,  like  Captain  Dearborn  and 
Henry,  were  too  ill  to  be  moved  from  hospitable 
shelters  found  by  the  wayside,  had  come  up. 

When  the  men  were  paraded,  their  appearance 
was  both  pitiful  and  ridiculous.  With  their  lean 
forms,  half  clad  in  torn  and  disheveled  clothing,  and 
haggard  faces  unshorn  for  many  weeks,  many  bare 
footed  and  bare-headed,  they  made  a  sorry  spectacle. 
Stocking  says  he  thinks  they  "resembled  those  animals 
of  New  Spain  called  ourang-outangs, "  and  that  the 


138        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

French  peasantry,  had  they  not  been  in  a  measure 
prepared  by  Arnold,  would  have  fled  from  their  habi 
tations  at  the  sight  of  such  savages  emerging  from 
the  forests.  "Unlike  the  children  of  Israel,  'whose 
clothes  waxed  not  old'  in  the  wilderness,  theirs  hardly 
held  together." 

A  letter  written  from  this  locality  by  one  of  its  in 
habitants  tells  us  of  the  sensations  created  there  by 
the  arrival  of  this  ragged  regiment.  ' '  There  are  about 
fifteen  hundred  provincials  arrived  at  Point  Levi, 
opposite  the  town,  by  the  way  of  the  Chaudiere  across 
the  woods.  Surely  a  miracle  must  have  been  wrought 
in  their  favor.  It  is  an  undertaking  above  the  com 
mon  race  of  men  in  this  debauched  age.  They  have 
traveled  through  woods  and  bogs  and  over  precipices 
for  the  space  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles,  at 
tended  with  every  conceivable  difficulty,  to  be  sur 
mounted  only  by  men  of  indefatigable  zeal  and  in 
dustry.  ' ' 

No  official  return  seems  to  have  been  attempted, 
but  the  number  of  men  estimated  fit  for  duty  at  Point 
Levi  was  about  five  hundred,  while  the  invalids  and 
non-combatants  were  about  one  hundred.  This  would 
seem  not  to  include  Natanis  and  his  Indians. 

The  number  of  those  who  perished  in  the  terrible 
march  from  the  head  of  Dead  River  to  the  French 
settlements  at  Sartigan  is  nowhere  estimated  with 
official  authority,  and  the  estimates,  of  various  survi 
vors  vary  considerably.  Morison,  who  uses  figures 
with  more  exactness  than  most  of  the  diarists,  sets 


DESCENDING    THE    CHAUDIERE  139 

down  the  effectives  at  Point  Levi  at  510,  and  adds 
that  seventy  or  eighty  had  died  in  the  wilderness. 
This  statement  is  probably  not  far  from  the  truth. 
The  names  of  only  a  few  of  these  poor  fellows  are 
recorded;  among  them  we  know  were  Buck  of  Scott's 
company,  George  Innes  of  Morgan's  company,  John 
Taylor  and  Lieutenant  McClelland  of  Hendricks's 
company,  James  Warner  and  Michael  Warner  of 
Smith's  company,  and  Olney  Hart. 

The  Eiver  St.  Lawrence,  from  a  mill  then  standing 
about  a  mile  to  the  west  of  Point  Levi  to  King's 
wharf,  Quebec,  was  eleven  or  twelve  hundred  yards 
wide.  The  mill  was  the  property  of  Major  Henry 
Caldwell,  of  Quebec,  and  the  Americans  made  a 
lucky  seizure  there  of  some  flour  and  two  hundred 
bushels  of  wheat.  The  person  whom  they  found  in 
charge  joined  them  and  became  a  commissary.  The 
British  frigate  Lizard,  of  twenty-eight  guns,  which 
had  just  arrived,  bringing  a  few  marines  and  a  timely 
supply  of  £20,000  in  cash,  and  the  Hunter,  a  sloop 
of  war,  were  riding  at  anchor  in  the  stream,  while  a 
number  of  merchant  vessels  were  clustered  in  the 
harbor  of  Quebec.  Every  boat  and  canoe  which 
could  be  reached  on  the  south  shore  of  the  river 
had  been  wisely  destroyed  by  the  British,  who  had 
timely  notice  by  the  interception  of  the  letters  in 
trusted  to  Eneas  and  Sabattis,  of  the  approach  of  the 
Americans. 

Beyond  the  river  the  beautiful  city  of  Quebec, 
hemmed  in  by  her  lofty  precipices  and  impregnable 
battlements  like  some  prisoner-princess  of  old  fairy 


140        ARNOLD'S   EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

tales,  smiled  down  upon  the  little  ragged,  famine- 
proof  army,  which  had  so  bravely  dared  the  north 
wind  and  forest  wilderness  for  her  sake,  while  to 
dishearten  and  ensnare  the  ignorant,  the  Americans 
read,  posted  on  the  chapel  door  at  Point  Levi,  the 
following  proclamation : 

Conditions  to  be  given  to  such  soldiers  as  shall  engage 
in  the  Royal  Highland  Emigrants.  They  are  to  engage  dur 
ing  the  present  troubles  in  America  only.  Each  soldier  is 
to  have  200  acres  of  land  in  any  province  in  North  America 
lie  shall  think  proper.  The  King  to  pay  the  patent  fee, 
secretary's  fee,  and  surveyor-general,  besides  twenty  years' 
free  of  quit  rent.  Each  married  man  gets  fifty  acres  for  his 
wife,  fifty  for  each  child,  on  the  same  terms,  and  as  a  gra 
tuity  besides  the  above  great  terms,  one  guinea  levy  money. 

ALLAN  MCLEAN, 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Commandant. 

During  the  llth  and  12th,  boats  and  canoes  were 
purchased  and  collected  with  the  greatest  possible 
expedition.  But  as  they  had  to  be  brought  from  a 
great  distance,  it  was  the  13th  before  thirty-five,  in 
cluding  dugouts,  counting  those  carried  down  the 
Chaudiere  by  Meigs,  were  procured.  There  were  other 
equally  important  preparations  to  be  made.  A  detail 
of  carpenters  under  Lieutenant  Savage  was  told  off  to 
make  scaling  ladders,  hooks  and  spears;  a  detail 
of  smiths  under  Captain  Hanchett  was  marched  four 
teen  miles  to  the  nearest  forge,  for  the  same  work, 
kept  busy  all  night  and  marched  back  next  day.  The 
rank  and  file  of  the  army  were  employed  in  over 
hauling  the  flintlocks  and  such  accoutrements  as 


DESCENDING    THE    CHAUDIERE  141 

they  had  saved,  and  in  making  shoes  out  of  raw-hides. 
Not  a  moment  was  wasted.  The  provincials  were 
forced  to  keep  under  cover,  however,  for  the  Hunter 
and  the  Lizard  dropped  shot  and  shell  among  them 
whenever  they  showed  themselves  in  any  number 
along  the  river  bank. 

A  council  of  officers  was  held  to  decide  whether 
to  hazard  an  assault  at  once,  should  they  succeed  in 
crossing  the  river,  or  wait  reinforcements  from  Mont 
gomery.  That  they  should  make  the  attempt  to  pass 
the  river  seems  to  have  been  accepted  as  a  matter  of 
course,  in  spite  of  its  wide  stretch  of  black  water 
and  strong  tides,  in  spite  of  the  two  vessels  of  war 
and  armed  merchantmen  linked  together  by  a  chain 
of  nightly  patrol  boats,  passing  and  repassing  be 
tween  the  vessels  every  hour.  Against  the  judgment 
of  Arnold  and  most  of  the  Rhode  Island  officers,  the 
decision  of  the  council  was  against  an  immediate 
assault,  it  is  said  by  a  majority  of  a  single  voice. 

November  llth,  a  hurried  report  came  to  head 
quarters  that  the  British  were  landing  at  the  mill. 
Each  man  grasped  his  arms.  Morgan  and  the  In 
dians,  who  were  nearest  headquarters,  were  foremost. 
Pellmell,  Indians  and  riflemen  intermingled,  they 
rushed  for  the  point  of  attack.  Reaching  the  brow 
of  a  precipice,  though  still  under  its  cover,  they  per 
ceived  a  boat,  which  came  from  the  sloop  Hunter, 
about  to  touch  the  shore.  The  boat  grounded;  a 
midshipman  sprang  out,  but,  to  obtain  a  better  land 
ing  as  the  tide  was  at  the  ebb,  ordered  the  boat  off 
into  deeper  water.  The  riflemen  fired  a  volley  at  the 


142        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

boat's  crew,  who,  leaving  the  middy  to  his  fate,  pulled 
out  of  range.  The  unlucky  youngster  plunged  into 
the  river,  hoping  to  regain  the  boat,  and  a  shooting 
match  began  at  his  head,  which  afforded  a  fair  mark 
above  the  water,  at  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards, 
as  he  swam  towards  the  boat.  Bullets  splashed  about 
him,  pierced  his  clothing,  and  one  slightly  wounded 
him.  The  swimmer  turned  towards  shore  again  with 
evident  intent  to  surrender,  but  Sabattis,  scalping 
knife  in  hand,  sprang  forward,  seemingly  intent  upon 
killing  the  lad.  Luckily  Morgan  was  more  athletic 
than  the  savage  and,  spurred  by  a  decent  humanity, 
intercepted  him.  The  Hunter,  meantime,  having  now 
warped  up  toward  the  shore  for  the  purpose,  opened 
with  ball  and  grape  on  the  riflemen,  who  hastened 
back  along  the  shore  with  their  prisoner  and  reached 
headquarters  without  accident.  The  midshipman  was 
only  about  fifteen  years  of  age,  a  brother  of  Captain 
McKenzie  of  the  frigate  Pearl*  a  lively,  active,  face 
tious  youngster,  who  at  once  won  the  good  will  and 
esteem  of  his  captors  by  his  refusal  to  give  them  any 
desired  information  militating  against  the  British. 
The  boat  had  been  sent  ashore  to  recover  Cal  dwell 's 
flour  at  the  mill. 

Arnold  now  wrote  again  to  Montgomery  and  Wash 
ington,  his  letters  from  Sartigan  and  St.  Marie  hav 
ing,  as  we  know,  owing  to  the  capture  of  his  messen 
gers,  failed  to  reach  their  respective  destinations. 
These  letters  were  sent  by  way  of  Sorel,  for  Arnold 

*  Ainslie's  Journal  says  that  it  was  the  Hunter,  not  the  Pearl,  that 
McKenzie's  brother  commanded. 


DESCENDING   THE    CHAUDIERE  143 

was  now  apprised  that  a  detachment  from  Montgom 
ery's  army  had  occupied  that  town  at  the  confluence 
of  the  Richelieu  and  the  St.  Lawrence. 

The  officer  commanding  at  Sorel  was  Colonel 
James  Easton,  who,  with  Major  Brown,  had  advanced 
without  opposition  to  that  place,  for  Lieutenant-Colo 
nel  Allan  McLean  had  retreated  before  him,  aban 
doned  the  post,  and  with  one  hundred  men  of  his  new 
regiment,  called  the  Royal  Emigrants,  and  about  sixty 
Fusileers,  chiefly  recruits,  embarked  for  Quebec, 
where  he  arrived  on  the  12th.  And  on  the  same  day 
Colonel  Guy  Johnson,  Superintendent  of  Indian  Af 
fairs,  sailed  from  Quebec  for  England  in  the  ship 
Adamant,  conveying  official  despatches  which  con 
tained  the  latest  information  from  the  field,  a  number 
of  Canadian  rebel  prisoners  and  young  Pitt,  for  whom 
General  Washington  in  his  direction  to  Arnold  had 
expressed  so  much  solicitude. 

Once  more,  before  bringing  to  an  end  this  portion 
of  the  narrative  and  proceeding  to  the  account  of 
the  operations  against  Quebec,  it  may  be  well  to 
review  briefly  the  causes  which  led  to  the  failure  of 
the  expedition  to  reach  the  city  as  early  as  it  had 
expected,  and  the  consequent  impossibility  of  surpris 
ing  the  citadel  and  capturing  it  without  a  blow,  as 
Washington  and  Arnold  had  fondly  hoped  to  do. 

Attention  should  be  directed  first  of  all  to  the 
complete  failure  of  Arnold's  plans  and  dispositions 
for  the  march  through  the  wilderness.  His  intention 
had  been  to  advance  his  base  of  supplies  to  the 


144        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

Twelve  Mile  carrying  place;  to  have  ferries  across 
the  ponds  there,  and  to  save  every  abandoned  bateau 
on  the  Kennebec  for  use  in  case  he  was  forced  to 
retreat.  The  assumption  to  which  we  are  forced  is 
that  these  arrangements  failed  of  execution  because 
of  inefficiency  in  the  commissary  department,  or  Enos  's 
neglect  of  duty,  though  there  certainly  were  many 
extenuating  circumstances. 

On  account  of  the  blockade  and  devastation  of 
the  ports  of  Maine  by  warships  from  the  British 
fleet  at  Boston,  the  consequent  interruption  to  the 
markets  and  sources  of  supplies  to  the  south,  and 
the  extreme  severity  of  this  winter,  the  people  in 
the  settlements  on  the  lower  Kennebec  were  reduced 
to  such  distress  and  starvation  as  we  sometimes  hear 
of  nowadays  prevailing  in  Labrador  and  Newfound 
land.  Some  families  had  no  bread  in  their  houses 
for  three  months  together,  and  people  who  lived  even 
at  a  distance  of  twenty  miles  from  the  seacoast  were 
forced  to  retreat  to  the  shore,  where  they  could  glean 
a  precarious  sustenance  from  the  clam  banks  on  the 
coast.  It  was  impossible  to  procure  grain,  potatoes 
or  any  other  species  of  vegetable.  Meat,  butter  and 
milk  were  equally  scarce.  Neither  tea,  sugar  nor 
molasses  were  to  be  purchased  on  any  terms.  Boiled 
ale-wives,  a  little  coffee  and  clams  formed  the  scanty 
diet  with  which  they  tried  to  satisfy  their  hunger. 

But  while  these  circumstances  would  account  for 
failure  to  supply  the  carrying  place  with  extra  pro 
visions,  they  do  not  excuse  the  failure  to  supply  it 
with  the  one  hundred  barrels  of  flour  which  Arnold 


DESCENDING   THE    CHAUDIERE  145 

assumed  the  army  had  left  in  storage  with  James 
Howard  at  Fort  Western.  It  is  evident  from  Ar 
nold's  letters  that  under  Mifflin  at  Cambridge,  the 
commissary-general,  Colonel  Farnsworth,  was  directly 
responsible.  I  have  been  able  to  find  nothing  con 
cerning  this  officer  in  all  my  search,  beyond  the  men 
tion  of  his  name  in  Arnold's  letters. 

Again,  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  it  was  Ar 
nold's  intention  that  the  Chaudiere  pond  should  be  a 
general  rendezvous,  for  there  he  expected  to  meet 
definite  advices  from  Canada,  and  to  continue  to  ad 
vance  or  retreat  according  to  circumstances  of  the 
situation.  Entirely  unprepared  for  Enos's  defection, 
and  urged  by  the  famine  which  threatened  his  army, 
he  changed  his  mind  and  pushed  on  with  all  speed 
for  the  French  settlements.  In  this  he  was  justified; 
he  had  received  on  the  Height  of  Land  favorable  re 
ports;  provisions  had  become  of  the  first  importance. 
Unforeseen  delays  had  occurred;  there  was  no  time 
to  spare  for  a  general  rendezvous;  speed,  and  a  gen 
eral  movement  forward,  would  alone  rescue  the  army. 
Had  he  failed  to  send  back  provisions  when  he  did, 
the  event  has  proved  that  his  loss  in  the  woods  would 
have  been  so  heavy  and  demoralizing  as  to  wreck  the 
expedition  utterly.  Unfortunately,  his  orders  to  Enos 
to  continue  the  advance  were  not  sufficiently  explicit; 
therein  he  was  much  at  fault,  but  his  error  did  not 
contribute  as  a  first  cause  to  the  comparative  miscar 
riage  of  the  expedition. 

Had  it  not  been  for  the  extraordinary  freshet, 
which  no  man  could  foresee,  the  failure  of  supplies 

14 


would  not  have  occurred  to  an  alarming  extent;  there 
is  every  probability  that  Enos  would  not  have  turned 
back;  Arnold  would  not  have  felt  it  necessary  to 
forge  so  far  ahead  of  his  people,  and  the  whole  de 
tachment  would  have  arrived  at  Point  Levi  in  time 
to  have  entered  Quebec  with  little  or  no  opposition. 
Instead  of  the  adverse  criticism  to  which  the  concep 
tion  and  execution  of  this  enterprise  have  always  been 
subjected,  and  which  has  discouraged  any  deep  in 
terest  in  its  details,  it  would  have  come  down  to  us 
as  one  of  the  most  glorious  coups  of  the  war,  and 
established  the  reputation  of  Washington  and  Arnold, 
as  masters  of  strategy  and  military  science. 

Obviously  the  equipment  of  the  detachment  as  well 
as  its  composition  is  open  to  just  criticism.  It  seems 
unquestionable  that  if  no  bateaux  had  been  trans 
ported  and  the  men  had  advanced  with  packs  on  their 
backs,  they  would  have  made  safer  and  speedier  prog 
ress.  Bafts  could  have  been  built  rapidly  on  the 
shores  of  many  of  the  ponds  by  an  advance  party, 
and  used  to  ferry  the  troops  across  as  fast  as  they 
arrived,  while  a  large  enough  amount  of  ammunition 
to  have  answered  every  purpose  could  have  been 
thus  transported.  Tents  and  cumbersome  camp  equi 
page  could  have  been  dispensed  with  even  at  that 
season. 

It  is  difficult  to  understand  why  Washington,  who 
is  known  to  have  spent  in  his  younger  days  many 
days  and  nights  in  the  backwoods  of  Virginia,  should 
have  made  this  mistake.  It  should  not  be  forgotten, 
however,  that  he  was  compelled  to  consider  policy 


DESCENDING    THE    CHAUDIERE  147 

and  harmonize  the  conflicting  interests  of  the  various 
colonies.  The  expedition  was  one  which  promised 
honors  and  advancement,  and  he  could  not  select  the 
officers  and  men  who  were  to  compose  the  detach 
ment,  strictly  from  the  point  of  view  of  expediency, 
without  arousing  much  jealousy  and  discontent.  Had 
he  selected  backwoodsmen  and  riflemen,  those  best 
fitted  for  the  undertaking,  he  would  have  been  com 
pelled  to  draw  chiefly  from  the  southern  colonies,  for 
there  were  few  such  companies  from  New  England. 
The  decision  with  regard  to  the  bateaux  was  prob 
ably  due  to  ignorance  of  the  waterways  and  the 
topography  of  the  country.  This  conclusion  is  sup 
ported  by  the  statement  which  Arnold  makes  in  one 
of  his  letters:  "We  have  been  deceived  in  every 
account  of  our  route." 

However,  an  examination  of  Montresor's  map, 
which  was  followed  by  the  expedition,  does  not  en 
tirely  support  this  statement.  It  was  the  freshet 
which  foiled  Arnold,  rather  than  defective  informa 
tion.  That  he  and  the  six  hundred  men  who  fol 
lowed  him  to  the  St.  Lawrence  accomplished  what 
they  did  in  the  face  of  such  difficulties  and  discour 
agements,  is  a  matter  for  wonder  and  admiration  rather 
than  for  criticism  and  detraction.  Washington,  whose 
commendation  was  always  a  badge  of  honor,  who 
was  too  experienced  a  frontiersman  and  too  good  a 
soldier  to  underestimate  such  an  achievement,  wrote 
to  General  Schuyler  when  he  heard  of  Arnold's  arrival 
before  Quebec: 


148        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

"The  merit  of  this  gentleman  is  certainly  great, 
and  I  heartily  wish  that  fortune  may  distinguish  him 
as  one  of  her  favorites.  I  am  convinced  that  he  will 
do  everything  that  his  prudence  and  valor  shall  sug 
gest  to  add  to  the  success  of  our  arms,  and  for 
reducing  Quebec  to  our  possession."  To  Arnold  him 
self  he  wrote  under  the  same  date:  "It  is  not  in 
the  power  of  any  man  to  command  success,  but  you 
have  done  more— you  have  deserved  it." 


CHAPTER   X 


BEFOKE  QUEBEC 

T  three  o'clock  on  the  afternoon  of  the 
13th,  another  council  of  officers  was  held, 
and  it  was  resolved  to  attempt  to  cross 
the  St.  Lawrence  that  night  and  to  make 
a  landing  at  Wolfe's  Cove.  The  evening 
was  calm  and  cold,  and  the  moon  would  not  rise  till 
the  early  hours  of  morning.  The  troops,  numbering 
some  five  or  six  hundred,  were  drawn  up  in  the  cove 
of  the  Chaudiere,  under  cover  of  the  mill,  where 
their  canoes  and  dugouts  of  pine  logs  had  been 
collected.  Men  accustomed  to  steal  upon  the  wary 
deer  and  keen-scented  moose  did  not  need  to  muffle 
their  paddles,  and  indeed  it  was  not  necessary  to 
take  great  precautions  against  noise,  for  even  had 
they  not  been  several  miles  from  the  ships-of-war, 
the  thunder  of  the  Falls  of  the  Chaudiere  would  have 
silenced  here  anything  less  than  a  cannon  shot,  but 
when  they  should  near  Wolfe's  Cove  every  precaution 
must  be  taken.  The  distance  to  be  traversed  was 
great,  because  at  an  angle,  probably  a  mile  and  a 
half  or  two  miles,  but  the  tide,  being  on  the  ebb, 
would  assist  them. 

The  first  canoes  left  the  shore  about  nine  o'clock. 
They  were  seven  in  number,  one  of  them  filled  with 

149 


150        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

savages.  The  pilot  boat  carried  Arnold,  Thayer, 
Topliam,  Dr.  Senter,  and  two  others.  Gently,  silently, 
but  swiftly,  their  paddles  dipped  and  turned  in  the 
smooth  waters  of  the  dark  river.  Every  nerve  was 
quivering  with  excitement;  every  eye  on  the  alert, 
peering  into  the  darkness.  Canoe  after  canoe  was 
quietly  lifted  from  the  bank  and  touched  the  water 
without  a  splash,  almost  without  a  ripple.  Like  an 
army  of  shades  or  spirits,  they  embarked  and  glided 
away  into  the  darkness.  More  than  an  hour  was 
passed  in  suspense  by  those  still  waiting  on  shore. 
Then  out  of  the  darkness  a  darker  object  took  form 
and  the  prow  of  a  canoe,  paddled  by  a  single  occu 
pant,  grounded  on  the  shore.  It  was  quickly  swung 
about  by  ready  hands  and  filled  with  eager  soldiers. 
Two  or  three  times  the  same  canoes  went  and  returned. 

One  of  the  canoes,  steered  by  Lieutenant  Steele, 
overloaded  to  the  water's  edge  with  men,  baggage 
and  arms,  burst  apart  in  midstream.  The  occupants, 
except  the  Lieutenant,  were  picked  up  by  the  near 
est  canoes.  But  all  were  now  so  crowded  that  they 
did  not  permit  the  reception  of  another  man,  so  that 
Steele  could  not  be  taken  in.  Wheeler,  who  steered 
one  of  the  canoes,  made  Steele  throw  his  arms  over 
the  stern;  and  then,  to  keep  them  warm  and  ena 
ble  Steele  to  maintain  his  hold,  sat  upon  them  and 
towed  the  Lieutenant  ashore,  chilled  to  the  bone  and 
exhausted.  Nothing  was  lost  except  a  few  guns  and 
clothes.  By  three  o'clock,  when  the  moon  began 
to  rise,  five  hundred  men  had  crossed;  only  a  few 
more  than  one  hundred  were  still  to  be  transported. 


0. 


CAPTAIN    DANIEL   MORGAN 

Afterwards  Major-!  ieneral  V.  S.  A.  and  Member  of  Congress 


BEFORE    QUEBEC  151 

Where,  all  this  time,  were  the  Hunter  and  the 
Lizard?  There  was  no  breeze,  and  they  were  swing 
ing  sleepily  at  anchor.  And  the  boat  patrol?  One 
of  them,  a  barge  from  the  Hunter,  was  heard  by 
those  already  on  the  northern  shore  rowing  towards 
them  in  the  darkness— easily  to  be  distinguished  from 
a  canoe  by  the  sound  of  the  oars  grating  in  the 
thole-pins.  It  rapidly  approached.  Discovery  seemed 
unavoidable.  Arnold,  realizing  the  value  of  the  first 
blow,  hailed.  The  ship's  boat  came  to.  He  gave 
the  order  to  fire.  The  volley  shook  the  echoes  of 
the  banks,  and  the  guard-boat,  ''with  screaming 
and  dismal  lamentations,"  backed  and  rowed  away. 
But  the  alarm  was  given,  and  the  moon  was  soon 
well  above  the  horizon.  It  was,  therefore,  impossible 
for  the  rest  of  the  detachment  to  cross  that  night. 
Part  of  the  men  left  behind  came  over  a  few  days 
later,  though  a  permanent  guard  of  sixty  was  main 
tained  at  Point  Levi. 

There  was  then  a  good  road  cut  aslant  the  preci 
pice  which  Wolfe  had  scaled  with  such  difficulty  in 
1759— just  sixteen  years  before.  The  Americans  had 
expected  to  find  sentinels  of  the  enemy  posted  along 
this  road  and  perhaps  a  guard  to  dispute  their  land 
ing  at  the  Cove.  There  was  none,  however.  A  re- 
connoitering  party  was  made  up  from  the  first  troops 
landed,  and,  led  by  Morgan,  it  ascended  to  the  Plains 
of  Abraham  and  disappeared  in  the  direction  of  the 
city.  It  had  been  necessary  to  make  allowance  for 
the  great  tides  which,  with  an  easterly  wind,  rise 
from  nineteen  to  twenty-two  feet,  and  with  a  west- 


152        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

erly  wind  from  sixteen  to  nineteen.  The  strong  ebb 
tide  had  much  scattered  the  canoes,  and  they  reached 
the  shore  at  different  points  from  the  Cove  to  Sillery. 
As  fast  as  the  men  came  up  they  followed  Morgan's 
party  up  the  pathway,  but  when  they  reached  the 
plains  they  were  immediately  formed  and  paraded. 
Details  were  counted  off  and  guards  mounted. 

The  morning  air  was  sharp,  the  wind  northwest 
and  uncommonly  penetrating,  and  the  men  paced  to 
and  fro  swinging  their  arms  and  trying  to  keep  warm. 
Everything  in  the  direction  of  Quebec  was  so  still 
that  they  could  hear  the  cries  of  the  sentries  on  the 
walls.  Very  soon  Morgan's  party  returned  and  re 
ported  that  everything  was  quiet  in  the  neighborhood 
of  the  city.  The  troops  now  took  up  their  march  for 
"Sans  Bruit,"  the  residence  of  Major  Henry  Caldwell, 
formerly  that  of  General  James  Murray,  a  large  man 
sion  with  outhouses  near  the  St.  Charles  River,  which 
had  the  character  of  a  manor-house  and  its  depend 
encies.  It  was  a  mile  and  a  half  or  two  miles  from 
Wolfe's  Cove,  and  about  the  same  distance  from 
Quebec.  The  place  was  stealthily  surrounded  and 
Caldwell 's  servants  surprised  as  they  were  loading 
teams  for  the  city.  One  of  them  was  taken  prisoner. 

The  mansion  house  became  headquarters,  and  the 
rank  and  file  were  comfortably  quartered  in  adjacent 
buildings.  The  men  proceeded  at  once  to  appropriate 
and  butcher  some  of  the  stock  with  which  the  place 
was  plentifully  supplied.  They  secured  twenty  work 
ing  bullocks,  four  or  five  fat  ones,  and  all  of  Cald- 


BEFORE    QUEBEC  153 

well's  horses.  Additional  provisions  were  secured 
from  several  teams  which  were  stopped  by  guards 
posted  on  the  roads  leading  into  the  city,  and  brought 
into  camp.  Thus  plentifully  supplied,  the  men  made 
a  hearty  breakfast,  and  those  not  detailed  for  guard 
duty  threw  themselves  down  upon  the  furniture  or  the 
floors  of  the  buildings  to  which  they  had  been  assigned 
and  were  soon  sleeping  heavily. 

It  was  reported  among  the  soldiers,  and  the  story 
has  been  repeated  by  historians,  that  all  that  night 
St.  John's  gate,  one  of  the  principal  entrances  through 
the  city  wall,  had  stood  open  guarded  only  by  one 
drowsy  sentinel.  But  if  such  a  golden  opportunity  to 
surprise  the  citadel  was  lost — which  seems  at  least 
doubtful — it  must  be  accounted  for  by  Arnold's  anxiety 
to  get  his  entire  command  across  the  river  during  the 
hours  of  darkness,  and  the  delay  of  any  concerted 
forward  movement  until  that  important  object  was 
safely  accomplished.  Morgan's  party  does  not  appear- 
to  have  discovered  that  the  gate  was  so  inadequately 
guarded,  and  Arnold  was  certainly  ignorant  of  the 
fact— if  fact  it  was. 

Arnold  now  dispatched  the  following  letter  to 
Montgomery : 

COLVIL  (sic)  PLACE,  2  miles  from  Quebec,  14  Nov.,  1775. 
Dear  Sir: — I  wrote  you  yesterday  from  Point  Levi,  by  an 
express  sent  from  Sorel  by  Colonel  Easton,  of  my  intention 
of  crossing  the  St.  Lawrence,  which  I  happily  effected  between 
9    and   4   in   the   morning   without   being   discovered,    until 
my  party  of  500  men  were  nearly  all  over,  when  a  frigate's 
barge  coming  up,  discovered  our  landing  and  prevented  our 
15 


154        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

surprising  the  town.  We  fired  into  her  and  killed  three 
men.  I  am  this  minute  informed  by  a  gentleman  from 
town,  that  Colonel  McLean  had  determined  to  pay  us  a 
visit  this  morning  with  600  men  and  some  field-pieces.  We 
are  prepared  and  anxious  to  see  him.  Others  from  town 
inform  me  that  the  inhabitants  in  general  have  laid  down 
their  arms.  By  the  best  information  they  are  in  the  great 
est  confusion;  very  short  of  wood  and  provisions,  much 
divided,  and  refused  provisions  from  the  inhabitants;  and 
if  blocked  up  by  a  superior  force,  must,  as  soon  as  the  frost 
sets  in,  surrender.  I  have  thought  proper  to  despatch  the 
bearer  to  inform  you  of  my  situation,  as  also  with  a  request 
I  have  to  make.  I  must  refer  you  to  him  for  particulars, 
as  I  have  been  so  unfortunate  in  my  former  letters,  I  don't 
choose  to  commit  every  intelligence  to  writing.  It  is  the 
current  report  here  that  you  have  invested  Montreal  and 
cut  off  their  retreat.  This,  I  hope,  is  true,  and  that  I  shall 
soon  have  the  pleasure  of  seeing  you  here. 

I  am,  dear  Sir,  with  great  respect, 

Your  obed't.  humble  servant, 

B.   ARNOLD. 
GENERAL  MONTGOMERY. 

P.  S. — Since  writing  the  foregoing,  the  enemy  found 
means  to  make  prisoner  of  one  of  our  out  sentinels.  I  im 
mediately  invested  the  town  as  nearly  as  possible  with  my 
troops,  which  has  occasioned  them  to  set  fire  to  the  suburbs 
of  St.  Johns,  and  several  of  the  houses  without  the  wall  are 
now  in  flames. 

George  Merchant,  of  Smith,  's  company,  was  the 
unlucky  sentinel  captured;  he  had  been  stationed  in 
a  thicket  where  he  had  the  disadvantage  of  seeing 
little  and  being  seen  from  higher  ground.  A  daring 


BEFORE    QUEBEC  155 

sergeant  of  the  7th  regiment  of  the  King's  troops,* 
with  a  few  followers,  noting  his  exposed  position,  for 
which  he  was  less  to  blame  than  the  officer  of  the 
guard,  glided  through  the  suburb  of  St.  John  under 
cover  of  the  houses,  and  then,  concealed  by  a  thicket, 
crept  stealthily  within  a  few  feet  of  Merchant  and, 
springing  suddenly  upon  him,  disarmed  him  before 
he  could  discharge  his  piece.  But  this  was  not  done 
without  giving  an  alarm,  and  the  Englishmen  and 
their  captive  were  hotly  pursued  to  the  shelter  of 
the  guns  of  the  city. 

The  excitement  incident  to  the  capture  of  Mer 
chant  and  the  pursuit  of  his  captors  gave  rise  to  the 
report  that  the  enemy  were  sallying.  The  drummers 
beat  the  assembly;  the  troops  hurriedly  formed  and 
marched  towards  the  city.  Coming  within  800  yards 
or  so  of  the  fortifications  they  halted,  and  looking 
up  at  the  walls,  crowded  with  soldiers  and  citizens, 
cheered  lustily,  while  their  enemies  as  loudly  shouted 
their  defiance.  For  some  time  this  foolishness  con 
tinued,  while  the  little  force,  lacking  unfortunately 
miraculous  trumpets  to  demolish  their  Jericho,  passed 
in  review  before  their  half-friendly  and  half-hostile 
audience.  Then  the  English  brought  to  bear  a  thirty- 
six  pounder,  and  though  they  hurt  no  one,  and  some 
of  the  Americans  in  derision  chased  and  picked  up 
the  spent  balls,  as  they  had  at  Boston,  they  has 
tened  the  performance.  The  provincials  soon  marched 
back  whence  they  came,  but  not  before  Adjutant 

*  Andres  regiment.     Andre1  had  just  before  been  captured  by  Mont 
gomery  at  St.  John's  and  was  on  his  way  southwards  as  a  prisoner. 


156        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

Febiger  had  advanced  within  a  hundred  paces  of 
the  walls  and  coolly  examined  the  state  of  their 
repair. 

Some  biased  historians  have  carelessly  claimed 
that  Arnold  having  been  known  in  Quebec  as  a 
humble  dealer  in  horses — a  "horse  jockey,"  as  his 
enemies  called  him— wished  to  display  before  the 
citizens  of  Quebec  his  newly-gained  power  and  im 
portance;  but  Arnold  was  no  such  vain  fool.  He 
probably  had  one  of  two  objects  in  view.  He  may 
have  wished,  by  the  smallness  of  his  force,  to  excite 
the  contempt  of  Lieutenant-Governor  Cramahe,  who 
commanded  the  garrison  during  Governor  Carleton's 
absence  in  Montreal,  and  so  to  induce  him,  as  Wolfe 
did  Montcalm,  to  seek  an  easy  victory  in  the  open 
plain,  which  would  have  enabled  Arnold's  friends  to 
encourage  an  uprising  in  his  rear — perhaps  even  to 
shut  the  gates  of  the  city  upon  the  regulars  and  loyal 
ists.  This  view  is  borne  out  by  Arnold's  letter  to 
Captain  Hanchett,  sent  the  very  next  day,  and  also  a 
letter  sent  to  a  friend  at  Montreal,  dated  November 
25,  from  Point  aux  Trembles.  Or  else,  as  we  are 
told  by  one  diarist,  the  troops  were  marched  past 
several  times  so  as  to  give  the  impression  of  greater 
strength  than  they  really  possessed.  This  would  have 
tended  to  encourage  the  sympathizers  within  the  walls 
and  to  mislead  Cramahe  into  a  prudential  inactivity 
which  would  secure  the  safety  of  Arnold's  command 
till  those  of  his  men  still  on  the  opposite  bank  of  the 
St.  Lawrence  could  cross,  or  till  the  expected  junction 
with  Montgomery  could  be  effected. 


BEFORE    QUEBEC  157 

Arnold  now  sent  young  Ogden  with  a  flag  and  the 
following  summons  to  Lieutenant-Governor  Cramahe: 

CAMP  BEFORE  QUEBEC,  14  Nov.,  1775. 

Sir: — The  unjust,  cruel  and  tyrannical  acts  of  a  venal 
British  Parliament,  tending  to  enslave  the  American  Colo 
nies,  have  obliged  them  to  appeal  to  God  and  the  sword  for 
redress.  That  Being  in  whose  hands  are  all  human  events, 
has  hitherto  smiled  on  their  virtuous  efforts.  And  as  every 
artifice  has  been  used  to  make  the  innocent  Canadians  in 
struments  of  their  cruelty  by  instigating  them  against  the 
Colonies,  and  oppressing  them  on  their  refusing  to  enforce 
every  oppressive  mandate,  the  American  Congress,  induced 
by  motives  of  humanity,  have  at  their  request  sent  Gen. 
Schuyler  into  Canada  for  their  relief.  To  cooperate  with 
him,  I  am  ordered  by  His  Excellency,  Gen.  Washington, 
to  take  possession  of  the  town  of  Quebec.  I  do,  therefore, 
in  the  name  of  the  United  Colonies,  demand  surrender  of 
the  town,  fortifications,  etc.,  of  Quebec  to  the  forces  of  the 
United  Colonies  under  my  command;  forbidding  you  to 
injure  any  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  in  their  person 
or  property,  as  you  will  answer  the  same  at  your  peril. 
On  surrendering  the  town  the  property  of  every  individual 
shall  be  secured  to  him;  but  if  I  am  obliged  to  carry  the 
town  by  storm,  you  may  expect  every  severity  practiced  on 
such  occasions;  and  the  merchants  who  may  now  save  their 
property,  will  probably  be  involved  in  the  general  ruin. 
I  am,  Sir,  your  most  ob't.  h'ble  servant, 

B.  ARNOLD. 

To  Hon.  HECT.  T.  CRAMAHE, 
Lt.-Gov.  of  Quebec. 

But   this   threatening   missive   never   reached   the 
man  to  whom  it  was  addressed,  for  as  the  flag  ap- 


158        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION   TO    QUEBEC 

preached  the  walls,  it  was  fired  upon  and  the  bearer 
was  forced  to  retire. 

When  it  was  known  that  Arnold  with  his  army 
had  reached  Point  Levi  there  was,  as  might  have 
been  expected,  great  excitement  within  Quebec. 
Cramahe  was  thoroughly  frightened,  and  had  very 
little  hope  of  making  any  defense.  Owing  to  the 
cabals  of  the  disaffected,  that  is  to  say,  of  the  ene 
mies  of  the  government,  there  was  great  danger  that 
the  city  would  be  given  up  without  even  a  show  of 
resistance.  In  the  nick  of  time,  the  troops  from 
Newfoundland,  referred  to  in  Arnold's  letters  to  Mont 
gomery,  arrived,  and  when  McLean  with  his  Emi 
grants  entered  the  town,  the  presence  and  encourage 
ment  of  this  hardy  and  able  Scotch  officer  restored  a 
state  of  equilibrium,  though  it  was  still  one  which 
might  at  any  moment  be  unsettled  to  the  advantage 
of  the  rebels.  Martial  law  had  long  since  been  pro 
claimed  by  Carleton,  and  McLean  did  not  hesitate  to 
take  advantage  of  it.  One  Williams,  a  rebel  partisan, 
who  was  haranguing  a  crowd  of  doubtful  spirits,  he 
caused  to  be  ousted  from  the  place  of  meeting,  and 
the  assemblage  was  then  forcibly  dispersed. 

Immediately  after  McLean's  arrival  a  council  of 
war  was  held,  whereat  the  fresh  vigor  and  courage 
with  which  he  had  inspired  the  slender  garrison  was 
in  great  evidence.  It  was  determined  to  lay  the  war 
ships  by  the  wharves  and  keep  them  in  the  harbor 
all  winter  if  necessary,  in  order  that  their  crews 
might  reinforce  the  garrison.  The  defenses  were 


BEFORE    QUEBEC  159 

instantly  to  be  put  in  such  repair  as  the  time  would 
allow;  all  British  inhabitants  and  all  seafaring  people 
then  in  the  city  were  forbidden  to  leave  it,  and  a 
bounty  of  three  pounds  sterling  was  offered  to  any 
who  would  volunteer  in  the  King's  service.  A  roster 
of  the  entire  available  force,  regulars,  militia,  sailors 
and  loyal  inhabitants,  made  for  this  council,  disclosed 
a  total  of  1,248  men,  not  all  of  whom  could  be  counted 
on  for  hard  fighting.  The  supply  of  arms  and  am 
munition  was  not  exactly  inadequate,  though  the 
defenders  would  have  been  glad  if  it  had  been  larger. 
Provisions,  in  spite  of  Arnold's  information  to  the 
contrary,  were  in  sufficient  quantity  to  enable  the 
city  to  stand  a  prolonged  siege  if  system  and  economy 
were  observed  in  their  distribution. 

Before  proceeding  further  in  the  narrative  of  the 
operations  before  Quebec,  it  will  aid  the  reader  to  a 
clearer  understanding  of  what  is  to  come  if  the  situ 
ation  of  the  city  and  its  famous  defenses,  natural  and 
artificial,  be  briefly  described.  A  ridge  of  high  land 
extending  from  Cape  Eouge  on  the  northern  bank  of 
the  St.  Lawrence  about  eight  miles  along  the  shore, 
terminates  at  the  eastern  extremity  in  a  rocky  and 
very  high  hill,  which  rises  to  the  west  of  the  beau 
tiful  basin  formed  by  the  confluence  of  the  River  St. 
Charles  with  the  St.  Lawrence.  There  stands  Quebec. 
The  citadel,  in  1775,  occupied  about  forty  acres,  and 
towered  with  independent  defenses  on  the  crest  of 
this  rocky  hill  nearly  three  hundred  and  fifty  feet 
above  the  river.  Exclusive  of  the  works  on  the  cita 
del  there  were  continuous  fortifications  all  around 


160        ARNOLD'S   EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

that  portion  of  the  city,  some  two  hundred  feet  be 
low  the  citadel,  which  is  termed  the  Upper  Town. 
They  consisted  of  bastions  connected  by  lofty  cur 
tains  of  solid  masonry  and  ramparts  from  twenty-five 
to  thirty  feet  in  height  and  twenty  feet  thick.  Round 
towers,  loopholed  casemates  and  massive  gates  re 
curred  at  certain  distances  in  this  great  wall. 

As  the  American  officers  from  the  Plains  of  Abra 
ham  gazed  upwards  upon  this  Gibraltar  of  America, 
they  noted  that  the  city  wall  began  with  a  lofty  bas 
tion  on  the  summit  of  a  steep,  rocky  promontory,  the 
foot  of  which  might  have  been  washed  by  a  high  tide 
of  the  St.  Lawrence,  but  was  now  separated  from  the 
river  by  a  narrow  cart-road,  which  ran  so  close  to 
the  water  that  vessels  were  often  moored  to  iron 
staples  driven  in  the  rocky  bank  which  formed  one 
side  of  the  road.  This  cart-road  was  the  sole  en 
trance  on  the  west  to  the  Lower  Town,  and  the  road 
and  cluster  of  houses  here  were  known  collectively 
as  Pres  de  Ville.  The  steep  promontory  of  rock,  be 
cause  of  the  sparkle  of  quartz  crystals  in  the  black 
lime  slate  of  its  shaggy  flank,  was  called  Cape  Dia 
mond.  It  presented,  towards  the  west  and  south,  a 
sheer  escarpment  of  over  three  hundred  feet.  The 
bastion  which  surmounted  it  bore  the  same  name. 
From  Cape  Diamond  bastion  the  wall  ran  toward  the 
interior,  inclining  to  the  northeast  for  about  eighteen 
or  nineteen  hundred  yards,  its  height  varying  to  meet 
the  natural  elevations  or  depressions  of  the  ground, 
and  separating  the  suburbs  St.  Louis  and  St.  John 
and  the  suburb  St.  Boque,  which  covered  the  low- 


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or  QUEBEC 

W.TH  ITS  SitGEflND  BLOCKADE 


BEFORE    QUEBEC  161 

land  between  the  suburb  St.  John  and  the  St.  Charles 
River  from  the  Upper  Town;  then,  making  a  sharp 
angle  by  turning  to  the  right,  it  was  broken  by  a 
gateway,  known  as  Palace  gate,  with  an  adjacent 
guard-house. 

Between  Cape  Diamond  bastion  and  Palace  gate 
there  were  four  other  bastions;  the  nearest  to  Cape 
Diamond  was  called  La  Glaciere.  The  other  three 
bastions,  St.  Louis,  St.  Ursula,  and  Potasse,  flanked 
the  gateways  of  St.  Louis  and  St.  John,  the  former 
admitting  the  road  from  Three  Eivers  to  the  Upper 
Town  and  the  latter  the  road  from  St.  Foy.  The 
suburbs  St.  John  and  St.  Koque  were  populous  be 
fore  the  siege,  and  for  that  reason  the  English  later 
found  it  necessary  to  sally  from  time  to  time  to  burn 
houses,  in  order  to  obtain  a  clear  range  for  their 
cannon  directed  against  the  American  batteries  on 
the  Plains  of  Abraham  and  in  St.  Roque. 

From  Palace  gate  the  fortifications  continued  along 
the  brow  of  a  high  cliff  overlooking  the  St.  Charles 
for  a  distance  of  three  hundred  yards  until  they 
reached  a  point  where  Hope  gate  was  subsequently 
built.  Then  commenced  a  gradual  elevation  of  the 
ground,  which  served  as  a  continuation  of  the  great 
wall,  completed  the  circle  of  artificial  and  natural 
defenses  around  the  Upper  Town,  and  terminated  at 
the  eastern  point  of  Cape  Diamond.  The  circuit  of 
the  fortifications  which  enclosed  the  Upper  Town  was 
two  and  three-quarter  miles.  Beyond  the  location  of 
Hope  gate  the  wall  continued  until  it  reached  a  per- 


pendicular  cliff  called  the  Sault  au  Matelot,  between 
the  foot  of  which  and  the  water  was  a  narrow  street, 
taking  its  name,  ' '  Sault  au  Matelot, ' '  from  the  cliff,  as 
did  also  that  quarter  of  the  Lower  Town  immediately 
adjacent.  This  street  formed  the  only  approach  to 
the  Lower  Town  from  the  east. 

The  dwellings  and  warehouses  in  the  Lower  Town, 
crowded  together  in  the  space  between  Sault  au  Mat 
elot  and  Pres  de  Ville,  clung  like  barnacles  to  the 
foundation  rock  which  supported  the  Upper  Town 
and  citadel.  The  scant  soil  upon  which  some  of  the 
houses  of  the  Lower  Town  were  built  had  not  been 
left  exposed  by  the  river's  receding  from  its  channel, 
but  was  merely  the  drift  and  accumulated  deposit 
lodged  at  the  base  of  the  mountain  of  rock  by  the 
current  and  occasional  freshets.  The  streets  were 
narrow,  steep  and  tortuous,  and  always  wet,  or  slip 
pery  with  ice.  One  of  the  broadest,  but  steepest, 
Mountain  street,  led  from  near  the  center  of  the 
Lower  Town  through  a  narrow,  strongly-picketed 
passage  to  the  Upper  Town.  This  was  properly  the 
only  way  of  passing  directly  from  the  Lower  Town  to 
the  Upper  Town  and  the  citadel.  Accordingly,  this 
steep  passageway  and  Mountain  street  were  so  forti 
fied  that  they  fairly  bristled  with  cannon  from  inter 
secting  barriers  and  parallel  battlements,  ready  to 
receive  any  enemy  on  his  front  and  both  flanks  with 
a  raking  fire.  The  entrance  itself  was  approached  at 
the  last  moment  by  a  declivity  which  brought  any 
attacking  force  directly  under  a  row  of  palisades, 
from  the  shelter  of  which  the  garrison  could  crush 


BEFORE    QUEBEC  163 

them  en  masse  with  heavy  stones  and  timbers  hurled 
from  above.  It  would  be  about  as  easy  for  a  camel 
to  pass  through  the  eye  of  a  needle  as  for  an  Amer 
ican  soldier  to  pass  safely  through  the  jaws  of  the 
British  Lion  into  the  Upper  Town. 

On  the  landward  side,  that  is  to  say  to  the  south 
and  southwest,  the  great  wall  of  the  Upper  Town  was 
further  protected  by  a  stone  ditch  or  moat,  and  sup 
ported  a  serried  array  of  heavy  cannon,  which,  with 
mortars  and  other  pieces  of  ordnance  placed  at  every 
point  of  vantage  in  the  Upper  Town  and  citadel, 
peered  like  huge,  black,  and  terrible  gargoyles  over 
the  redoubts  and  through  bomb-proof  casemates. 
The  cul-de-sac  at  the  Lower  Town  where  the  Lizard, 
the  Hunter  and  a  score  or  more  of  merchantmen  were 
laid  up  for  the  winter;  the  River  St.  Lawrence  and 
the  Bay  and  River  St.  Charles,  were  commanded  by 
the  guns  of  the  Upper  Town  and  citadel. 

The  Upper  Town  contained  all  the  more  notable 
public  buildings  and  charitable  and  religious  houses, 
such  as  the  governor's  house,  the  Castle  of  St.  Louis, 
behind  which  was  the  Place  d'  Armes,  the  Church 
and  Convent  of  the  Recollets,  the  Jesuit  College 
founded  in  1637,  the  Hotel  Dieu  endowed  in  1663  by 
Mgr.  de  Montmorency  Laval,  first  Roman  Catholic 
bishop  of  Quebec  and  Canada,  and  the  Seminary  of 
Quebec,  established  in  1639  by  the  Duchesse  d'  Aiguil- 
lon,  niece  of  Richelieu,  together  with  the  private  resi 
dences  of  some  of  the  government  officials  and  lead 
ing  merchants.  The  private  houses  were,  for  the 


164        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

most  part,  built  of  a  dark  slate  and  gray  limestone, 
quarried  from  the  rock  on  which  the  city  stood,  and 
were  only  one  story  high.  The  streets  were  broad, 
though  as  rugged  and  even  steeper  than  those  of  the 
Lower  Town,  and  crossed  one  another  at  all  sorts 
of  angles.  There  were  also  many  fine  gardens  and 
orchards,  squares  and  open  places,  so  that  the  high 
public  buildings  and  eleemosynary  institutions  were 
thus  given  great  prominence,  terraced,  as  they  were, 
one  above  the  other,  on  their  lofty  site.  The  ap 
proach  to  the  citadel  far  above  was  by  a  winding  road 
leading  from  St.  Louis  gate,  hewn  from  the  solid 
rock  and  commanded  everywhere  by  the  guns  of  the 
different  bastions. 

The  Lower  Town  borrowed  none  of  this  grandeur; 
there  were  the  warerooms  and  shops,  the  storehouses 
and  sheds  of  a  commercial  district,  and  the  homes  of 
the  burghers  and  the  poor.  The  houses  were  of  the 
same  general  character  as  those  of  the  Upper  Town, 
but  were  two  or  three  stories  in  height.  Wharves  and 
docks  bordered  the  St.  Lawrence  and  St.  Charles,  and 
seemed  to  keep  the  Lower  Town  from  slipping  back 
ward  into  the  water.  But  it  was  this  squalid  section 
of  the  fortress  city  that  created  and  contained  the 
wealth  so  generously  lavished  on  the  beautiful  Up 
per  Town.  It  was  at  this,  therefore,  that  Mont 
gomery  finally  aimed,  and  through  it  that  he  hoped 
to  conquer  the  Upper  Town  and  citadel. 

The  Americans  had  no  means  by  which  to  make 
an  attack  from  the  water,  and  the  strong  tides  and 


BEFORE    QUEBEC  165 

rapid  current  of  the  St.  Lawrence  made  any  approach 
on  the  ice  too  uncertain  thus  early  in  the  season. 
The  garrison  having,  therefore,  little  to  fear  on  the 
water  side  of  the  Lower  Town,  were  able  to  man  the 
walls  on  the  landward  side  in  a  more  effectual  manner 
than  their  numbers  would  otherwise  have  permitted. 
The  Americans  could  not  approach  the  wall  day  or 
night  without  being  fired  upon  with  both  cannon  and 
small  arms,  for  at  the  sound  of  the  least  suspicious 
movement  at  night,  fire  balls  which  would  burn 
brightly  even  in  the  snow  could  be  thrown  with  great 
advantage.  The  crossing  of  the  moat,  concealed  in 
the  deep  drifts,  would  require  care  and  time;  any 
scaling  ladders  used  must  of  necessity  be  long  and 
unwieldy  and  on  such  treacherous  footing  would  rest 
most  insecurely  against  the  high,  ice-covered  ram 
parts. 

The  artificial  defenses  of  the  city  were  not  in  the 
best  of  condition;  Arnold  in  one  of  his  sanguine  mo 
ments  spoke  of  them  as  "ruinous."  But  even  so,  the 
natural  strength  of  the  citadel  made  it  almost  im 
pregnable,  and  long  before  the  Americans  were  ready 
to  make  their  assault,  the  walls  and  bastions  and 
gates  had  been  put  into  such  a  state  of  repair,  under 
the  energetic  supervision  of  Governor  Carleton,  that 
they  cannot  have  failed  much  of  the  efficiency  they 
were  designed  to  possess.  The  garrison  which  held 
the  fortifications  was  small,  it  is  true,  but  it  was  at 
least  well  commanded.  General  Guy  Carleton,  the 
governor  of  Canada,  who  though  absent  upon  Arnold's 
arrival  made  his  way  into  Quebec  soon  after,  as  we 


166        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

shall  see,  had  been  Wolfe's  quartermaster-general, 
and  was  present  at  the  famous  battle  on  the  Plains 
of  Abraham  in  1759.  With  a  firm  will,  he  possessed 
a  gracious  and  winning  manner,  and  such  control  over 
himself  that  he  appeared  unruffled  and  at  ease  in  the 
midst  of  difficulties  which  reduced  his  subordinates  to 
despondency.  He  was  an  excellent  and  experienced 
officer  withal,  devoted  to  the  Crown  and  unwavering 
in  the  discharge  of  his  duty. 

The  officer  who  immediately  commanded  the  troops 
was  Colonel  Allan  McLean,  of  the  84th  regiment, 
called  the  Eoyal  Emigrants,  because  principally  com 
posed  of  those  of  the  gallant  Fraser's  Highlanders, 
so  conspicuous  under  Wolfe,  who  had  settled  in  Can 
ada.  He  was  also  an  officer  of  experience  and  zeal, 
though  a  fierce  partisan,  a  man  of  unflagging  energy, 
and  most  active  in  devising  and  promoting  plans  for 
the  defense  of  the  city.  It  was  he  who  had  arrived 
with  reinforcements  in  the  very  nick  of  time,  just  as 
Arnold  had  appeared  at  Point  Levi. 

The  British  militia  were  under  the  command  of 
Major  Henry  Caldwell,  who  had  the  provincial  rank 
of  lieutenant-colonel.  He  had  served  as  deputy  quar 
termaster-general  under  Wolfe,  and  had  settled  in 
the  province  after  the  conquest.  He  also  was  an  ener 
getic  and  efficient  officer,  and,  though  his  detestation 
of  the  rebels  needed  no  stimulant,  he  had  now  good 
cause  for  personal  ill-will,  for  it  was  his  country  seat 
which  they  had  occupied  and  pillaged.  The  French- 
Canadian  militia  within  the  town  were  commanded  by 


BEFORE    QUEBEC  167 

Colonel  LeComte  Dupre,  an  officer  of  ability  and  un 
mistakable  loyalty.  He  had  held  a  commission  in 
1755  under  Marquis  Duquesne.  Like  Caldwell,  he 
had  suffered  at  the  hands  of  the  Americans,  some 
four  hundred  of  whom  had  been  quartered  on  his 
estate  near  Quebec,  which  they  nearly  ruined. 

The  battalion  of  seamen  was  led  by  Colonel  Hamil 
ton,  captain  of  the  Lizard;  and  among  the  crews  of 
the  ships  were  many  excellent  artillerists,  who  were 
of  great  service  in  manning  the  numerous  batteries. 
Besides  these  there  were  not  a  few  subordinate  officers, 
who  had  gained  valuable  experience  in  frontier  service 
and  even  in  European  campaigns.  There  were  be 
tween  eight  and  nine  hundred  regulars,  seamen  and 
militia  in  the  town,  besides  an  uncertain  number  of 
loyal  citizens  who  could  be  called  upon  in  emergency 
to  assist  in  the  defense  of  the  fortifications.  The 
total  number  of  persons— men,  women  and  children — 
within  the  walls  has  been  estimated  at  five  thousand. 


CHAPTER  XI 
MONTGOMERY  JOINS  ARNOLD 


HE  situation  of  the  Americans  who  be 
sieged  this  fortress  was  critical.  Their 
force  was  divided  and  those  on  the  Que 
bec  side  of  the  river  were  too  few  to  com 
pletely  invest  the  city,  while  the  small 
number  still  at  Point  Levi,  divided  from  their  comrades 
by  the  river  and  the  vessels  of  war,  stood  in  imminent 
danger  of  capture  or  dispersion;  the  French-Canadian 
population  seemed  friendly,  but  suspicious  persons, 
assumed  to  be  spies,  were  constantly  lurking  about 
the  camp,  and  it  was  deemed  too  hazardous  to  risk 
giving  offense  to  the  Canadians  by  making  arrests. 
Meanwhile  dissatisfaction  with  the  rations  was  spread 
ing.  The  riflemen  thought  Arnold  fared  too  well,  and 
claimed  that  the  supplies  were  hardly  more  than  the 
pittance  they  received  on  the  Dead  Eiver.  Morgan, 
Smith  and  Hendricks  presented  themselves  before 
Arnold  and  represented  the  grievance  of  their  men; 
a  stormy  altercation  followed,  but  the  result  was  a 
more  favorable  division  for  the  riflemen. 

On  the  morning  of  the  15th,  Arnold,  under  the 
impression  that  the  day  previous  his  flag  had  been 
fired  upon  by  accident,  sent  another  flag  towards  the 
city.  But  this  met  with  a  like  warm  reception,  and 

168 


169 

no  more  attempts  were  made  to  demand  the  surrender 
of  the  city.  The  proceeding  had  been  little  better  than 
mere  bluster  at  best,  for  Arnold's  men  were  too  few 
to  seriously  threaten  the  town,  even  had  they  been 
well  supplied  with  the  ammunition  and  military  sup 
plies  of  which  they  were  almost  destitute,  and  there 
is  reason  to  suppose  that  the  defenders  knew  pretty 
nearly  as  well  as  the  American  commander  himself 
the  inadequacy  of  his  force  and  its  armament.  What 
ever  were  the  fears  of  Cramahe  the  lieutenant-gover 
nor,  Colonel  McLean,  was  too  old  a  soldier  to  be 
deceived  by  Arnold's  attempt  to  magnify  the  strength 
of  his  following. 

On  the  low  grounds  near  the  River  St.  Charles  was 
a  large  building  known  as  the  General  Hospital,  a 
cloistered  convent  established  in  1693  by  Mgr.  de  St. 
Valier,  presided  over  by  a  Lady  Superior,  and  the 
abode  of  some  forty  nuns,  who  ministered  there  to  the 
old  and  infirm  and  those  diseased.  It  was  about 
three-quarters  of  a  mile  from  the  city  wall.  Some 
fifty  feet  in  front  of  this  there  was  a  spacious  log- 
building  occupied  by  several  priests  headed  by  the 
Abbe  de  Rigaudville,  chaplain  of  the  nunnery.  A 
party  of  stragglers  first  discovered  these  buildings, 
and  had  reason  to  consider  the  discovery  a  lucky  one, 
since  they  were  fed  most  generously  by  the  nuns, 
whose  pity  overcame  their  fears  and  loyal  resolutions 
not  to  aid  the  heretic  enemy.  These  miserable,  half- 
starved  wretches  seemed  no  part  of  the  formidable 
army  whose  incursion  they  had  been  dreading  for  a 
week.  The  riflemen  were  immediately  thrown  for- 

16 


170       'ARNOLD'S   EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

ward  to  this  log-house,  which  they  used  as  a  guard 
house,  under  the  shrewd  and  correct  supposition  that, 
as  it  stood  directly  between  the  town  and  the  nun 
nery,  which  was  still  occupied  by  some  thirty  nuns, 
and  contained  many  articles  of  value  not  yet  removed, 
the  enemy  would  not  fire  in  that  direction. 

The  guard  put  on  duty  here  on  November  16  con 
sisted  of  twenty- two  men  from  Smith's  company,  com 
manded  by  Lieutenant  Simpson.  Toward  evening  this 
detachment  was  relieved,  but  the  new  guard  brought 
with  them  a  villainous-looking  Frenchman,  who  pre 
sented  himself  to  Simpson  with  a  written  order  from 
Arnold,  commanding  that  officer,  with  his  guard,  to 
accompany  the  bearer,  who  would  act  as  guide,  across 
the  Eiver  St.  Charles  and  secure  some  cattle,  belong 
ing  to  the  government,  which  were  feeding  beyond 
the  stream.  It  was  so  dangerous  an  undertaking  that 
at  first  the  order  was  doubted,  but,  after  a  short  con 
sideration,  obeyed.  Calling  "Come  on,  lads,"  to  his 
guard,  the  lieutenant  ran  some  hundreds  of  yards 
from  the  guard-house  across  the  plains  to  the  mouth 
of  the  St.  Charles,  where  there  was  a  ferry.  A  large 
windmill  with  a  small  house  near  it  resembling  a 
cooper's  shop  stood  close  by. 

Two  large  carts  heavily  laden  with  household  goods, 
and  with  women  and  children  fleeing  from  the  sub 
urb  of  St.  Roque,  were  passing  the  ferry.  The  carts 
were  already  in  the  scow,  and  the  ferrymen,  seeing 
the  riflemen  coming,  were  tugging  hard  at  the  ropes 
to  get  off  the  boat,  which  was  aground.  Simpson,  in- 


From  steel  engraving  after  an  original  miniature  by 
Miss  Anne  Hall,  1830. 


MONTGOMERY   JOINS    ARNOLD  171 

spired  by  the  hope  that  the  presence  of  the  towns 
people  would  protect  his  men  from  the  fire  of  the 
enemy  if  once  on  board  the  boat,  urged  the  race. 
Though  the  garrison  had  noticed  the  movement  and 
opened  fire  with  cannon,  the  agile  riflemen  reached 
the  bank  without  casualty,  and  in  a  twinkling  were 
masters  of  the  ferryboat.  But,  as  they  rushed  aboard, 
the  weight  of  their  bodies  and  arms  served  to  fix  the 
boat  more  firmly  aground. 

Private  Henry  and  Sergeant  Dixon*  remained  in 
the  boat;  the  former,  as  ordered,  called  the  flashes 
of  the  cannon,  while  the  latter  tugged  at  the  ferry 
ropes.  Their  companions  sprang  overboard,  waist- 
deep,  and  pushed  and  pulled,  attempting  to  float  the 
scow.  The  sun  was  setting  in  a  clear  sky,  and  the 
boat  lay  like  a  rock  in  the  water;  a  target  at  point- 
blank  shot,  about  three-quarters  of  a  mile  from  Pal 
ace  gate,  which  issues  into  the  suburb  of  St.  Roque. 

High  up  on  the  battlements  they  could  see  the 
gunners  ramming  home  their  charges  for  another  dis 
charge.  The  men  in  the  water  were  straining  every 
nerve.  Before  Henry  could  announce  the  flash,  a 
thirty-six  pound  ball,  grazing  the  lower  edge  of  a 
cart-wheel  and  descending  a  little,  carried  off  Dixon 's 
leg  below  the  knee.  He  fell  into  the  bottom  of  the 
boat,  crying  out  to  Simpson,  "I  am  gone!"  The  lieu 
tenant  leaped  into  the  boat,  and  with  the  assistance 
of  his  men  bore  Dixon  to  the  windmill.  A  distant 
shout  of  triumph  was  heard  from  the  city,  accom 
panied  by  some  fairly  close  shots.  Dixon  was  carried 

*  Dixon  was  from  West  Hanover,  Pa. 


172        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

on  to  the  guard-house.  The  sad  procession  was  under 
fire  until  it  reached  the  protection  of  the  nunnery, 
when  the  cannonade  ceased.  While  the  attention  of 
the  guard  was  distracted  by  Dixon's  misfortune,  the 
French  guide  fled  from  the  windmill,  and  made  good 
his  escape  to  the  city.  The  rascal,  who  it  turned  out 
was  a  government  spy  acting  as  a  decoy,  was  unob 
served  until  he  had  run  several  hundred  yards  along 
the  beach  of  the  Bay  of  St.  Charles,  and  was  beyond 
gunshot. 

The  wounded  man  was  now  borne  on  a  litter  to  the 
house  of  an  English  gentleman,  about  a  mile  distant. 
Dr.  Senter,  who  attended  him,  found  it  necessary  to 
amputate;  lockjaw  followed,  which  caused  death  about 
nine  o'clock  of  the  ensuing  day.  This  was  the  first 
blood  shed  by  hostile  hands  before  Quebec.  After 
the  amputation  the  doctor  advised  the  patient,  in  de 
fault  of  brandy,  to  drink  some  tea  which  would  stim 
ulate  the  desired  reaction.  The  lady  of  the  house 
brought  a  bowl  of  it,  but  Dixon,  who  had  the  patriot's 
detestation  of  the  article  through  which  England  had 
tried  to  tax  the  colonies,  shook  his  head  and  put  it 
away  from  him,  saying:  "No,  madam;  it  is  the  ruin 
of  my  country!"  He  could  not  be  prevailed  upon  to 
alter  his  decision. 

On  the  17th  the  Americans  captured  two  captains 
of  the  French  militia,  who  had  ventured  out  from 
Quebec  to  enlist  recruits  from  the  peasantry.  On  the 
same  day  a  deserter  from  McLean's  regiment  came 
into  camp  and  brought  news  of  the  state  of  affairs  in 


MONTGOMERY    JOINS    ARNOLD  173 

the  city.  On  the  18th  the  English  sallied  out  upon 
some  of  the  American  sentinels,  but  they  were,  for 
tunately,  discovered  in  time  and  driven  back.  Con 
stant  alarms,  true  and  false,  gave  the  men  no  rest 
that  was  not  light  and  broken.  Foraging  on  govern 
ment  and  Tory  stock,  to  which  they  strictly  confined 
themselves,  was  the  only  relief  from  arduous  and 
prolonged  guard  duty— arduous  on  account  of  the 
season  of  the  year  and  the  severity  of  the  weather; 
prolonged  because  they  were  so  few  in  numbers  that 
there  was  only  one  relief  before  they  were  again 
obliged  to  go  on  duty.  Those  who  were  not  on  guard 
lay  upon  their  arms  in  constant  anticipation  of  an 
attempt  of  the  enemy  to  surprise  them.  Hardship, 
anxiety,  their  meager  supply  of  clothing,  and  the  cold 
which  every  day  became  more  severe,  rendered  their 
situation  almost  intolerable.  To  add  to  their  uneasi 
ness,  a  careful  return  made  by  Majors  Bigelow  and 
Meigs  of  their  resources  developed  the  fact  that  they 
had  hardly  five  rounds  of  ammunition  per  man,  and 
most  of  their  muskets  and  rifles  were  without  bayonets. 

In  view  of  these  facts,  a  council  of  war  decided 
that  it  was  too  hazardous  to  await  any  longer  the 
arrival  of  Montgomery,  and  that  it  would  be  wiser  to 
withdraw  to  Pointe  aux  Trembles,  a  hamlet  on  the 
St.  Lawrence  about  twenty  miles  west  of  Quebec,  and 
having  formed  a  junction  there  with  Montgomery  to 
return  and  renew  the  siege.  Accordingly,  on  the  19th, 
early  in  the  morning,  the  little  force  decamped.  Cap 
tains  Thayer  and  Topham  had  been  sent  across  the 
river  during  the  night  to  bring  over  some  invalids 


174        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION   TO    QUEBEC 

and  supplies  that  were  left  behind,  and  on  their  re 
turn,  to  their  great  surprise,  found  the  command 
already  on  the  march.  The  decision  of  the  council 
had  been  hastened  by  a  report  that  the  enemy  were 
informed  of  their  precarious  situation,  and,  fully  ap 
prised  of  their  poverty  of  arms  and  ammunition,  were 
about  to  sally  with  seven  field  pieces.  It  was  noticed, 
too,  that  the  Lizard  was  sailing  up  the  river,  which 
made  the  American  officers  the  more  inclined  to  sus 
pect  the  information  to  be  true,  for  it  certainly  looked 
like  an  attempt  to  cut  them  off  by  throwing  a  force 
in  their  rear,  or  blocking  Montgomery's  progress  down 
the  river  while  the  anticipated  engagement  was  in 
progress  before  Quebec. 

The  army  therefore  took  up  its  march  at  once  on 
the  road  to  Three  Eivers.  They  had  been  in  frequent 
receipt  from  the  Canadian  peasantry  of  expressions  of 
friendship  and  encouragement,  and  these  people 
watched  their  departure  with  great  regret,  not  un 
mixed  with  anxiety.  It  was  a  sorry  spectacle,  this 
discouraging  retrograde  movement.  The  sympathetic 
Canadians  spoke  of  the  ragged  battalions  as  "nos 
pauvres  freres."  The  road  to  Pointe  aux  Trembles, 
along  the  bank  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  led  them  through 
stretches  of  leafless  woodland,  relieved  by  patches  of 
spruce  and  fir,  though  before  their  journey  ended  they 
passed  numerous  well-kept  and  finely  situated  farm 
houses.  The  immense  volume  of  water  in  the  St. 
Lawrence,  and  the  beautiful  views  which  it  presented, 
even  in  the  winter-bound  landscape,  delighted  and 
astonished  the  men,  and  helped  to  distract  their 


MONTGOMERY   JOINS    ARNOLD  175 

thoughts  from  the  pain  caused  by  their  naked  feet  on 
the  icy,  uneven  road.  Blood  on  the  snow  from  chil 
blains  and  blisters  marked  their  trail  the  whole  dis 
tance.  As  they  ascended  the  river,  an  armed  sloop 
and  a  small  schooner  passed  them  coming  down;  later 
they  were  to  learn  that  the  sloop  carried  Governor 
Carleton,  who  entered  Quebec  safely  the  same  day. 

Carleton,  hopeless  of  successfully  defending  Mon 
treal,  because  of  its  want  of  fortifications,  and  also 
because  of  his  distrust  of  its  citizens  and  his  want 
of  confidence  in  the  country  train-bands  of  French 
peasantry  which  had  gathered  there,  had  abandoned 
the  town  to  Montgomery,  to  the  dismay  of  the  loyal 
English  Canadians.  With  about  three  hundred  men 
and  officers  he  boarded  one  of  the  fleet  of  vessels 
which  were  lying  in  the  harbor,  and  having  loaded 
these  ships  with  all  the  munitions  and  provisions  be 
longing  to  the  government,  he  hurriedly  set  out  for 
Quebec.  But  upon  encountering  Easton's  guard  and 
petty  forts  at  Sorel  and  St.  Ignace,  about  forty  miles 
below  Montreal,  the  Governor  landed  at  Lavaltrie,  a. 
few  leagues  below  Montreal,  and  accompanied  by  the 
Chevr.  de  Niverville  and  M.  Lenaudiere  fils,  entered 
a  barge  belonging  to  a  coasting  trader  named  Bou- 
chette,  nicknamed  "La  Tourtre"  (the  wild  pigeon), 
because  he  made  very  quick  voyages.  Dropping  down 
stream  with  muffled  oars,  he  slipped  by  Easton  's  guard 
at  Sorel,  and  passing  through  the  channel  of  the  Isle 
du  Pas  by  night,  the  crew  paddling  only  with  their 
hands  so  close  were  they  to  the  shore,  he  reached 
Three  Rivers,  where  he  had  landed  a  second  time. 


176        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

Below  Three  Rivers  at  the  foot  of  Richelieu  rapids,  he 
had  boarded  the  snow  Fell*  an  armed  craft  com 
manded  by  Captain  Napier,  and  thus  was  landed  at 
Quebec,  to  the  great  joy  of  the  loyalists  (who  had 
had  no  news  from  him  since  the  5th  of  November), 
and,  as  it  proved,  to  the  salvation  of  all  Canada. 

No  sooner  had  Carleton  arrived  at  Quebec  than 
he  instituted  astute  and  energetic  measures  for  the 
safety  and  defense  of  the  city.  He  ostracised  per 
sons  of  suspected  disloyalty,  or  compelled  them  to 
take  up  arms  for  its  defense;  he  extended  and  en 
forced  a  previous  proclamation  of  embargo,  and  thus 
obtained  not  only  the  control  of  the  merchant  shipping 
then  at  Quebec,  but  added  their  crews  to  his  garrison; 
he  promised  all  the  mechanics  and  other  townsmen 
who  had  no  provisions,  to  supply  them  and  their 
families  at  the  expense  of  the  King,  during  the  siege, 
and  to  give  each  twenty-eight  coppers  per  day,  and 
to  clothe  them  to  boot.  His  generosity,  affable  man 
ners  and  address  won  the  hearts  of  the  citizens, 
and  they  resolved  to  support  him  with  a  will.  We 
already  understand  the  prompt  and  efficient  measures 
which  had  been  taken  by  his  subordinates  during  his 
absence. 

Easton  in  the  meantime,  ignorant  of  the  Governor's 
escape,  threatened  to  board  the  fleet  if  it  were  not  at 

*  This  is  evidently  the  same  vessel  as  is  called  Tell  on  page  237.  A 
"  snow  "  was  a  three-masted  vessel  of  a  rig  once  common  enough  both 
in  England  and  America,  but  now  disused. 


MONTGOMERY   JOINS    ARNOLD  177 

once  surrendered.  Colonel  Richard  Prescott,  who 
had  been  left  in  command,  his  pilots  having  mutinied 
and  refused  to  pass  the  forts,  flung  overboard  all  his 
powder  and  ball  and  surrendered.  Montgomery  thus 
became  possessed  of  the  means  of  transporting  his 
army  to  join  Arnold  at  Pointe  aux  Trembles,  for  the 
fleet  was  immediately  sent  up  to  Montreal.  There 
were  eleven  vessels,  well  armed  and  equipped.  Sev 
eral  officers  and  one  hundred  and  twenty  regular 
troops  of  the  7th  and  26th  regiments,  and  about  one 
hundred  Canadians  were  surrendered  with  them. 

The  waters  of  the  St.  Lawrence  were  such  good 
transmitters  of  sound  that  Arnold's  men  on  the  march 
could  hear  distinctly  the  reports  of  cannon  fired  by 
way  of  feu-de-joie  at  Montreal,  upon  Montgomery's 
entry.  At  evening  they  reached  Pointe  aux  Trembles, 
a  straggling  village  with  a  spacious  chapel  dedicated 
to  St.  Nicholas.  Here  they  began  to  enjoy  comfort 
able  quarters  in  the  village  and  outlying  farmhouses, 
though  they  were  obliged  to  disperse  for  a  distance  of 
some  miles  up  and  down  the  river.  Provisions  were 
plenty,  particularly  beef.  But  they  could  obtain  no 
supply  of  clothing  here,  and  some  of  the  poor  fellows 
were  almost  naked. 

The  Corvee  of  France  was  still  maintained  in  this 
part  of  Canada  and  kept  the  roads  in  excellent  order. 
In  low  grounds  they  were  ditched  on  the  sides  and 
curved  towards  the  center;  every  forty  or  fifty  yards 
on  each  side  of  the  road  throughout  its  extent,  young 
pines  were  stuck  in  the  ground,  to  mark  the  safest 

17 


178        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION   TO    QUEBEC 

passage,  for  in  midwinter  the  snow  often  lay  from 
three  to  five  feet  over  the  surface,  covering  the  fences 
completely,  and  no  one  traveled  during  the  months 
of  December,  January  and  February,  except  by  these 
roads  or  upon  snow-shoes. 

The  manner  of  living  and  fare  of  the  peasantry  has 
undergone  little  change  since  that  day.  The  farm 
houses  were  thatched  and  whitewashed  as  we  now 
find  them,  whole  families  living  in  two  or  three  rooms 
with  a  spacious  garret  above,  where  in  the  winter 
season  fowl  killed  in  the  fall  and  frozen  in  their 
feathers,  hung  suspended  from  the  rafters  with 
strings  of  parched  corn  and  frozen  meat.  Over  the 
close  iron  stove  in  the  kitchen  and  living-room  ran 
lines  for  the  drying  of  dishcloths  and  clothing.  The 
common  breakfast  was  sour  black  bread,  salt  and 
garlic,  and  the  dinner  a  great  pot  of  potatoes,  cab 
bage  and  beef  boiled  to  shreds.  The  cattle  were 
close-housed  in  ample  barns  during  the  winter,  and 
the  live  fowl  stowed  away  in  the  warmest  corner  of 
the  hay  loft. 

On  the  20th  an  express  from  General  Montgomery 
reached  Pointe  aux  Trembles  with  the  news  that 
Governor  Carleton  had  quitted  Montreal  to  go  to 
Quebec  with  the  determination  of  holding  that  strong 
hold  at  all  events;  that  the  King's  troops  had  aban 
doned  the  town  and  shipping  just  as  Montgomery 
was  about  to  attack  them  with  row-gallies  and  boats 
with  artillery  mounted  on  them;  that  it  was  Carleton 
who  had  passed  them  on  their  march;  that  Mont- 


MONTGOMERY   JOINS    ARNOLD  179 

gomery  had  captured  a  large  quantity  of  provisions 
and  clothing  and  thirteen  sail;  and  that  he  would 
immediately  join  Arnold  with  men  and  artillery. 
Those  of  Arnold's  detachment  yet  remaining  on  the 
opposite  bank  of  the  St.  Lawrence  had  received 
orders  to  march  up  the  river  along  the  bank.  A 
man  was  now  sent  across  the  river  to  stop  these 
troops,  and  they  were  transferred,  when  opportunity 
offered,  to  Pointe  aux  Trembles.  On  this  day  Arnold 
sent  Captain  Ogden  to  Montgomery  with  a  letter 
acquainting  him  with  the  reasons  which  had  led  to 
the  retreat  to  Point  aux  Trembles  and  urging  that 
ammunition  and  clothing  be  sent  forward  as  quickly 
as  possible.  The  hope  was  also  expressed  that  the 
junction  of  the  two  forces  might  not  be  long  delayed, 
in  order  that  active  operations  against  Quebec  might 
be  undertaken. 

"They  are  getting  all  the  provisions  they  possibly 
can  out  of  the  country,"  he  wrote,  "and  are  doubtless 
determined  to  make  the  best  defense.  From  the  best 
accounts  I  can  get  their  force  is  about  1,900  men, 
including  600  obliged  to  bear  arms  against  their  in 
clination,  and  who  would  join  us  if  opportunity  pre 
sented,  and  400  neutrals.  You  will  from  the  above 
account  be  better  able  to  judge  of  the  force  necessary 
to  carry  the  town.  If  my  opinion  is  of  any  service, 
I  should  think  2,000  necessary,  as  they  must  be 
divided  at  the  distance  of  three  or  four  miles  to 
secure  the  passes  effectually.  And  as  there  is  no 
probability  of  cannon  making  a  breach  in  the  walls 
I  should  think  mortars  of  the  most  service,  the  sit- 


180        ARNOLD'S   EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

nation  for  throwing  shells  being  extremely  good,  and 
I  think  this  course  would  soon  bring  them  to  com 
pliance.  If  not,  time  and  perseverance  must  effect 
it  before  they  can  possibly  be  relieved.  My  hard 
cash  is  nearly  exhausted.  It  will  not  be  sufficient 
for  more  than  ten  days  or  a  fortnight;  and  as  the 
French  have  been  such  sufferers  by  paper  I  do  not 
think  it  prudent  to  offer  it  them  at  present."  By 
way  of  clothing  and  supplies  he  asked  for  600  pairs 
coarse  yarn  stockings,  500  yards  woollen  for  breeches, 
1,000  yards  flannel  or  baize  for  shirts,  300  milled 
capes,  300  milled  mittens  or  gloves,  300  blankets, 
powder  and  ball,  one  barrel  of  West  India  rum,  and 
one  barrel  of  sugar. 

Montgomery's  arrival  was  awaited  for  nearly  a 
fortnight  with  ever-increasing  impatience.  The  long, 
hard  inarch  from  Quebec  and  the  severity  of  the 
service  had  occasioned  severe  cases  of  pneumonia 
and  angina,  while  too  frequent  indulgence  in  eating, 
after  their  long  abstinence,  produced  no  less  danger 
ous  inflammations.  Numbers  of  the  men  improved 
the  respite  at  Pointe  aux  Trembles  by  working  on 
moccasins  and  shoes,  but  the  leather  was  very  poor 
and  the  cold,  frosty  ground  wore  out  any  foot-cov 
ering  rapidly.  They  found  the  most  satisfactory 
foot-gear  to  be  moccasins  of  sealskin  stuffed  with 
dry  grass  or  dead  leaves.  For  the  most  part,  how 
ever,  there  was  nothing  to  do  but  stand  their  ground 
and  await  as  calmly  as  might  be  the  appearance  of 
the  sadly  needed  supplies  and  reinforcements.  That 
Arnold  still  possessed  the  confidence  of  most  of  his 


181 

men  throughout  this  trying  period  of  inaction  and 
discomfort  is  plainly  evidenced  by  ample  testimony. 
One  of  his  officers  who,  though  more  enthusiastic 
than  most,  still  voiced  the  sentiment  of  many  of  his 
comrades,  wrote  from  Pointe  aux  Trembles  on  No 
vember  21 : 

"Our  commander  is  a  gentleman  worthy  of  the 
confidence  reposed  in  him,— a  man,  I  believe,  of  in 
vincible  courage;  a  man  of  great  prudence;  ever 
serene,  he  defies  the  greatest  danger  to  affect  him, 
or  difficulties  to  alter  his  temper;  in  fine,  you 
will  ever  see  him  the  intrepid  hero,  the  unruffled 
Christian. ' ' 

November  25  the  Hunter,  a  brig,  and  a  schooner, 
hove  in  sight,  beating  up  from  Quebec;  the  vessels 
were  armed.  Arnold  immediately  despatched  a  ser 
geant  and  six  men  in  a  canoe  to  carry  the  intelli 
gence  to  General  Montgomery,  and  lest,  by  some 
mischance,  his  warning  might  miscarry,  he  sent  a 
similar  letter  also  by  land.  The  vessels  did  not  pro 
ceed  far  up  the  stream,  however.  A  thin  sheet  of  ice 
already  covered  the  surface  of  the  river,  and  the 
officers  did  not  care  to  risk  the  chance  of  being 
frozen  in  for  the  winter  so  far  from  the  guns  of 
Quebec.  A  few  days  later  they  dropped  down  the 
river  again  and  no  further  attempt  was  made  to 
prevent  the  junction  of  the  colonial  forces. 

On  the  27th  the  long-expected  express  arrived  with 
news  that  ammunition  and  cannon  from  Montgomery 
were  at  St.  Anne's,  thirty  miles  above  Pointe  aux 


182        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

Trembles,  waiting  to  be  transferred;  and  in  the  after 
noon  Lieutenant  Hutchins  and  a  detail  of  sixty  men 
were  sent  off  to  meet  these  munitions,  and  bring  them 
into  the  camp.  Arnold  himself  followed  next  day, 
while  Captain  Goodrich,  with  two  subalterns,  four 
sergeants  and  sixty-four  men,  was  despatched  to 
meet  General  Montgomery's  advance  guard  and  to 
watch  the  movements  of  the  vessels  in  the  river.  At 
the  same  time,  in  anticipation  of  the  immediate  return 
of  the  combined  forces  to  Quebec,  about  the  same 
number  of  riflemen,  under  the  command  of  Captain 
Morgan,  were  despatched  to  the  city  to  watch  and 
report  any  movements  of  the  enemy  in  that  direction. 
The  detail  under  Hutchins,  midway  on  their  second 
day's  march,  met  the  cannon  and  ammunition  wagons, 
and  escorted  them  the  same  day  back  to  the  village 
of  Deschambault,  whence  they  were  hurried  on  to 
Pointe  aux  Trembles.  Captain  Jeremiah  Duggan, 
once  a  hairdresser  at  Quebec,  later  a  wheat  dealer 
at  Montreal,  and  an  ardent  rebel,  was  in  command  of 
the  party  which  conveyed  the  ammunition. 

On  the  30th  another  letter  was  despatched  to  Gen 
eral  Montgomery,  whose  delay  in  descending  the  river 
caused  the  energetic  Arnold  no  little  anxiety  and  im 
patience. 

' 'I  have  not  had  the  pleasure  of  hearing  from  you 
these  ten  days,"  it  ran;  "am  very  anxious  for  your 
safe  arrival.  The  ammunition  you  ordered  us  has 
been  strangely  delayed  and  has  not  yet  come  to 
hand,  but  hourly  expected.  On  receipt  of  it  I  intend 


MONTGOMERY   JOINS    ARNOLD  183 

returning  to  my  old  quarters  near  Quebec.  Nothing 
lias  lately  occurred  worth  notice  except  the  burning 
of  Major  Caldwell's  house,  supposed  to  be  done  by 
order  of  Governor  Carleton  to  deprive  us  of  winter 
quarters.  The  inhabitants  of  Quebec  are  much  dis 
united  and  short  of  provisions.  We  have  many  friends 
there,  and  if  the  place  is  attacked  with  spirit  I  believe 
will  hold  out  but  a  short  time." 

This  letter  seems  to  have  been  carried  to  Mont 
gomery  by  the  young  volunteer  aide,  Aaron  Burr. 
Much  has  been  made  by  Knapp,  Davis  and  Parton  of 
Burr's  brilliant  exploit  in  carrying  dispatches  from 
Arnold  to  Montgomery.  Knapp  says  that  he  per 
formed  this  service  disguised  as  a  young  Roman 
Catholic  priest,  and  that  he  made  the  journey  from 
Point  Levi  on  Arnold's  first  arrival  there,  while  Davis 
is  careless  enough  to  state  that  Burr  left  Arnold  on 
this  mission  at  Chaudiere  pond.  The  story  told  by 
Davis  is  that  Burr  was  a  master  of  the  Latin  lan 
guage,  and  had  some  knowledge  of  French,  and 
knowing  that  the  Roman  Catholic  priesthood  were  fa 
vorably  disposed  towards  the  rebels,  he  persuaded 
them  to  allow  him  to  adopt  this  disguise,  and  to  pass 
him  on  from  one  religious  house  to  another,  until  he 
reached  Montgomery.  The  story  is  prettily  embel 
lished  by  Davis  and  Parton  and  told  with  consider 
able  exactness  by  Knapp.  Unfortunately  the  letter  of 
Arnold's  quoted  below  discredits  both  dates  and  facts 
alike,  and  shows  us  that  Burr  must  have  had  a  much 
easier  time  in  accomplishing  his  brilliant  feat  than  his 
biographers  have  led  us  to  suppose,  for  expresses  had 


184        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

been  passing  to  and  fro  over  the  route  which  he  must 
have  taken  from  Montgomery  and  Arnold  for  many 
days.  His  friend  Ogden  had  preceded  him  by  more 
than  a  week,  and  the  journey  from  Pointe  aux  Trem 
bles  to  Montgomery's  camp  as  late  as  November  30, 
when  this  letter  is  dated,  could  not  have  been  very 
hazardous.  The  letter,  which  is  brief  enough,  runs 
thus: 

Dear  Sir:—  This  will  be  handed  you  by  Mr.  Burr,  a  vol 
unteer  in  the  army,  and  son  to  the  former  President  of  New 
Jersey  College. 

He  is  a  young  gentleman  of  much  life  and  activity,  and 
has  acted  with  great  spirit  and  resolution  on  our  fatiguing 
march.  His  conduct,  I  make  no  doubt,  will  be  sufficient 
recommendation  to  your  favor. 

I  am,  dear  Sir,  your  most  obed't  h'ble 

B.  ARNOLD. 
BRIGADIER- GENERAL  MONTGOMERY. 

Twice  only  among  the  numerous  journals  of  the 
expedition  through  the  wilderness  do  we  find  mention 
of  Burr.  His  youth  and  insignificant  stature,  and  the 
humble  position  he  held  as  an  unattached  volunteer 
without  a  commission,  readily  explain  this  omission. 
Once  we  hear  of  him  on  the  chain  of  lakes,  and 
again  on  the  Chaudiere  near  the  dying  McClelland 
at  the  Falls  of  Sault,  but  it  is  merely  to  remark  his 
presence  and  bearing.  We  are  told  by  his  biographers 
that  as  he  was  habitually  obliged  to  be  very  abstemi 
ous  in  his  diet,  he  stood  the  privations  of  the  march 
much  better  than  heavier  and  stronger  men,  while 
by  his  knowledge  of  boat-craft  he  won  the  respect  of 


MONTGOMERY   JOINS   ARNOLD  185 

his  comrades  and  found  a  sphere  of  usefulness  in 
which  he  gained  the  good-will  of  his  superiors,  al 
ready  attracted  to  him  by  his  birth  and  breeding. 

Jacataqua,  the  Indian  girl  who  through  fondness 
for  Burr  had,  with  some  of  her  people,  followed  the 
army  from  Fort  Western,  was  still  faithful.  A  few 
days  after  the  encampment  at  Pointe  aux  Trembles, 
according  to  an  oft-repeated  story,  the  promising 
young  officer  and  Jacataqua,  while  on  a  hunting  ex 
pedition,  came  to  a  brook  of  pure  water  in  the  for 
est.  Having  no  cup,  Burr  was  proceeding  to  use  the 
top  of  his  cap  as  a  vessel  in  which  to  offer  his  com 
panion  water,  when  a  British  officer,  hunting  or  scout 
ing,  who  had  come  to  the  other  side  of  the  brook  by 
chance  at  the  same  moment,  saluted  him  politely  and 
offered  him  the  use  of  his  drinking  cup.  The  two 
struck  up  a  friendship,  and  advancing  to  the  middle 
of  the  stream  shook  hands  and  pledged  one  another, 
agreeing,  once  the  war  was  over,  to  be  good  friends 
and  to  try  to  see  more  of  one  another.  By  private 
agreement,  without  injury  to  the  cause  of  either,  they 
met  several  times  both  before  and  after  the  assault 
on  Quebec,  and  it  is  probable  that  during  these  in 
terviews  arrangements  were  made  for  the  protection 
of  Jacataqua  and  the  child  which  it  was  now  become 
apparent  she  had  conceived,  in  one  of  the  nunneries 
of  the  city.  Such,  at  least,  is  the  romantic  account 
which  Burr's  biographers  have  handed  down  to  us 
and  which  has  at  least  the  support  of  tradition. 

On  the  28th  of  November,  the  British  vessels  from 
Quebec  having  dropped  down  the  river  again,  Mont- 


186        ARNOLD'S   EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

gomery  embarked  on  board  the  captured  sloop  of  war 
Gaspe,  and  in  company  with  the  schooner  Mary  set 
sail  to  join  Arnold  at  Pointe  aux  Trembles.  On  board 
these  two  vessels  were  Cheesman's  and  Weissenfels' 
companies  of  Ritzema's  regiment,  one  company  of  the 
2d,  and  two  of  the  3d  regiment,  all  of  New  York,  and 
a  part  of  Captain  Lamb's  company  of  artillery.  They 
carried  with  them  four  field  pieces  and  six  mortars; 
cannon,  other  mortars,  shells,  shot  and  powder  were 
to  be  brought  from  Chambly  and  meet  them  at  Sorel. 
Three  days  later  Major  Zedwitz,  with  Mott's,  Varick's, 
and  Quackenboss 's  companies  on  another  prize  vessel, 
and  four  transports  with  further  supplies  of  ammuni 
tion  and  stores,  followed.  On  the  first  day  of  De 
cember  General  Montgomery  reached  Pointe  aux 
Trembles.  Arnold's  detachment  was  ordered  down 
to  the  chapel  of  St.  Nicholas  and  paraded  in  two 
battalions  in  front  of  it,  to  welcome  him.  The  sky 
was  lowering  and  the  weather  very  cold,  but  the 
soldierly  appearance  and  manly  bearing  of  Mont 
gomery  animated  and  encouraged  the  long-suffering, 
shivering  battalions. 

Richard  Montgomery's  father  was  Thomas  Mont 
gomery,  an  Irish  gentleman  of  Donegal.  His  mother 
was  an  English  lady  of  fortune.  He  was  born  near 
Dublin  and  was  educated  at  Trinity  College.  He 
had  seen  service  in  America  as  a  lieutenant  and  cap 
tain  in  the  17th  British  regiment,  under  General  Am- 
herst  at  the  siege  of  Louisburg  in  1758.  After  the 
war  he  returned  to  England.  Fox,  Burke,  and  Barre 
were  his  friends,  and  he  became  an  ardent  admirer  of 


/ 


r^ 


MONTGOMERY   JOINS   ARNOLD  187 

republican  institutions.  When  the  Stamp  Act  was  to 
be  enforced,  order  was  at  first  given  to  employ  his 
regiment,  then  in  England.  All  their  service  having 
been  in  America,  Montgomery,  with  several  others, 
declared  publicly  that  they  had  lived  so  long  in 
America  that  they  would  throw  up  their  commissions 
if  the  order  was  persisted  in. 

In  1771  he  had  the  promise  of  a  majority,  and 
had  lodged  his  money  for  the  purchase,  but  he  was 
overlooked  and  another  preferred  over  him.  This 
treatment  disgusted  him  with  the  service  and  he  im 
mediately  sold  his  commission.  He  emigrated  to  New 
York,  purchased  a  farm  at  Kingsbridge,  and  in  July, 
1773,  married  Janet,  the  daughter  of  Robert  R.  Liv 
ingston,  one  of  the  judges  of  the  King's  Bench  in 
the  colony  of  New  York,  and  a  man  of  influence  and 
wealth.  He  then  removed  to  Rhinebeck,  on  the  Hud 
son,  where  he  built  a  mill  and  laid  the  foundations  of 
a  home.  He  was  chosen  in  1775  one  of  the  council 
of  fifty  from  Dutchess  county,  and  when  Schuyler  was 
appointed  a  major-general,  the  appointment  of  brig 
adier-general  was  tendered  Montgomery.  Before  ac 
cepting  it  he  came  into  his  young  wife's  room,  and 
asked  her  to  make  up  for  him  the  ribbon  cockade 
which  was  to  be  placed  on  his  hat.  He  noticed  her 
emotion,  and  saw  that  tears  were  starting.  With  per 
suasive  gentleness  he  said  to  her,  "Our  country  is  in 
danger.  Unsolicited,  in  two  instances,  I  have  been 
distinguished  by  two  honorable  appointments;  as  a 
politician  I  could  not  serve  them,  as  a  soldier  I  think 
I  can.  Shall  I,  then,  accept  the  one  and  shrink  from 


188        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

the  other  in  dread  of  danger  I  My  honor  is  engaged. ' ' 
Mrs.  Montgomery  took  the  ribbon,  and  he  continued: 
"I  am  satisfied.  Trust  me.  You  shall  never  blush 
for  your  Montgomery."  Such  was  the  strong  sense  of 
duty  and  the  sensitive  temper  of  the  chivalrous  soldier 
who  was  now  to  assume  command  of  the  American 
forces. 

Montgomery  had  just  reached  his  thirty-ninth  year. 
He  was  tall  and  slender,  well  formed,  handsome  of 
feature,  and  of  a  most  soldierly  bearing.  He  made 
the  troops  a  short  but  energetic  and  well-chosen 
speech,  in  which  he  applauded  their  courage  in  pass 
ing  through  the  wilderness,  complimenting  them  on 
their  good  appearance,  their  perseverance  and  their 
spirit.  The  men  were  most  favorably  impressed  with 
their  new  commander  and  though  shivering  with  the 
cold,  cheered  him  lustily.  The  same  day  Captain 
Ogden  returned  with  stores  of  all  sorts  for  the  soldiers 
from  Montreal,  and  matters  assumed  at  once  a  still 
more  cheerful  aspect.  Among  the  supplies  were  a 
quantity  of  uniforms  captured  at  St.  John's,  and  the 
provincials,  long  without  whole  clothing  of  any  sort, 
were  only  too  glad  to  compromise  with  their  pride 
and  assume  the  livery  of  the  King. 

The  force  with  Montgomery  that  now  joined  Arnold 
was  only  about  three  hundred  in  number,  Montgom 
ery  having  deemed  it  necessary  to  leave  the  rest  of 
his  army  under  General  Wooster  to  garrison  Montreal, 
and  hold  other  strategic  points  in  the  surrounding 
country.  With  the  exception  of  Lamb's  artillery,  the 
New  York  troops  were  far  inferior  to  those  under  Ar- 


MONTGOMERY   JOINS   ARNOLD  189 

nold,  measured  by  every  military  standard.  Many 
were  very  young  boys.  Montgomery  had  found  him 
self  often  at  his  wits'  end  to  control  the  turbulent,  in 
dependent  spirit  they — and  their  officers  as  well — too 
often  displayed.  He  was,  therefore,  unprepared  for 
the  picked  troops  of  Arnold,  and  wrote  to  General 
Schuyler,  under  date  of  December  5:  "Colonel  Ar 
nold's  corps  is  an  exceedingly  fine  one,  and  he  him 
self  is  active,  intelligent  and  enterprising— with  a 
style  of  discipline  much  superior  to  what  I  have  been 
used  to  see  in  this  campaign. ' ' 

The  united  forces,  still  less  than  a  thousand  strong, 
now  retraced  the  route  to  Quebec,  beginning  their 
march  on  the  morning  of  the  2d.  Snow  had  fallen 
all  night  and  continued  during  the  day.  The  counter 
march  on  the  untrodden  snow  was  hardly  less  trying 
than  the  march  on  the  icy  roads.  Their  moccasins 
had,  of  course,  no  heels  to  support  the  position  of 
the  foot,  and  so  produced  great  fatigue  to  wearers 
unaccustomed  to  their  use;  snow-shoes  would  have 
been  of  great  assistance,  but  they  had  none.  Even 
ing  brought  them  to  the  parish  of  St.  Foy,  about 
three  miles  from  Quebec;  Morgan  was  lodged  a  little 
nearer  the  city.  He  had  quartered  his  men  in  some 
low  and  pretty  country  houses,  where  they  were  very 
comfortable. 

Before  leaving  Pointe  aux  Trembles  Arnold  ordered 
Captain  Hanchett  to  convey  down  some  arms,  pro 
visions  and  cannon  in  bateaux  to  Celiers,  within  a 
league  of  Quebec,  while  the  field  artillery  were  sent 
down  by  road.  After  the  bateaux  crews  had  unloaded 


190        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

the  cannon,  they  were  to  cross  to  Point  Levi  for 
scaling  ladders.  Hanchett  flatly  refused  to  obey  the 
order,  alleging  the  danger  of  the  undertaking  to  be 
too  great.  Arnold,  enraged  at  the  refusal,  sent  for 
Captains  Topham  and  Thayer,  swearing  he  would  put 
Hanchett  under  arrest.  Upon  their  appearance  he 
requested  one  of  them  to  perform  the  duty.  Both 
eagerly  accepted,  and,  being  emulous  of  the  honor, 
could  only  settle  which  should  go  by  turning  "heads 
or  tails."  The  coin,  to  the  vexation  of  Captain  Top- 
ham  and  the  satisfaction  of  Captain  Thayer,  came 
down  in  favor  of  the  latter. 

So  Thayer  loaded  the  bateaux  and  towards  even 
ing,  the  tide  serving,  started  on  his  perilous  voyage. 
His  crews  cut  through  the  ice  for  about  a  quarter  of 
a  mile,  until  they  reached  clear  water,  and  then  rowed 
and  drifted  with  the  tide  eighteen  miles,  rowing  with 
the  utmost  eagerness  to  keep  from  freezing.  Such  a 
fierce  snow-storm  raged  that  the  vessels  became  sep 
arated  from  one  another.  Captain  Thayer  ordered 
some  guns  to  be  fired  and,  guided  by  the  flashes,  the 
boats,  with  great  difficulty,  reassembled  and  then  made 
for  the  shore  near  Cape  Eouge.  The  bateaux  being 
very  heavy  and  now  covered  with  ice  went  aground 
among  the  rocks,  and  the  men,  very  impatient  and 
unwilling  to  remain  aboard,  jumped  into  the  icy  water 
up  to  their  arm-pits  and  with  great  difficulty  reached 
shore.  There  they  brought  some  horses,  threw  out  a 
line,  and  hauled  the  boats  on  shore,  thus  enabling 
the  Captain  and  the  rest  of  his  detail  to  land  without 
much  difficulty. 


CHAPTER   XII 
THE  INVESTMENT 

ECEMBEE  3  found  the  Americans  can 
toned  from  Pointe  aux  Trembles  to  old 
Lorette.  They  soon  occupied,  also,  Beau- 
port  across  the  St.  Charles,  and  "La 
Cardaniere,"  with  headquarters  at  the 
Holland  house  on  the  St.  Foy  road.  They  were  well 
supplied  with  clothing  and  ammunition,  and  with  the 
cannon,  mortars  and  howitzer  brought  from  Montreal 
and  Chambly  made  ready  to  prosecute  the  siege  in  a 
more  vigorous  manner.  The  whole  army  was  in  high 
spirits.  The  peasantry  began  to  show  open  sympathy 
with  the  rebels,  and  Duggan,  the  hairdresser,  commis 
sioned  a  major  in  the  Continental  service,  was  recruit 
ing  among  them  with  fair  success.  He  fearlessly  en 
tered  the  suburb  of  St.  Roque  and  disarmed  many  of 
the  Canadians  who  were  enrolled  in  the  loyal  militia. 

At  the  parish  of  St.  Augustine,  the  American  offi 
cers  were  entertained  by  the  curate,  Michael  Berian, 
with  hospitality  and  elegance.  There  was  frequent 
interchange  of  such  civilities  between  the  officers  and 
village  priests,  in  spite  of  a  mutual  want  of  confidence. 
The  officers  wished  to  conciliate  and  attach  the  clergy 
to  their  interests ;  the  priests  hoped  to  secure  protection 

191 


192        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

for  themselves  and  their  flocks  from  the  soldiery,  and 
in  some  instances,  to  secure  information  for  the  enemy. 

By  the  4th  of  December  there  was  so  much  ice  in 
the  St.  Lawrence  that  it  was  not  possible  for  the 
provincials  to  cross  and  bring  over  more  scaling  lad 
ders,  and  those  which  had  been  already  constructed 
were  found  too  short  and  clumsy  for  use  in  the  snow 
drifts.  Carpenters  were  immediately  set  to  work  to 
construct  others.  Dearborn's  company — their  captain 
having  at  last  recovered  from  his  illness  and  returned 
to  them  from  the  cabin  on  the  Chaudiere— was  ordered 
to  the  General  Hospital  for  quarters.  Subsequently  as 
many  as  four  hundred  of  the  Americans  were  quar 
tered  in  the  great  hall  or  in  the  servants'  lodgings. 
This  building  we  have  already  noticed.  It  was  a 
chapel,  nunnery  and  hospital,  all  under  one  roof. 
Dr.  Senter  now  presided  there.  There  were  not  many 
sick  at  first,  but  they  soon  became  more  numerous. 
The  enemy  continued  to  respect  the  place,  and  never 
fired  upon  it,  though  they  often  made  it  dangerous 
for  the  doctor  to  pass  to  and  from  the  hospital  and 
the  quarters  of  the  army.  The  provincial  officers 
treated  the  nuns  with  respect  and  did  everything  they 
could  to  secure  their  peace  and  protect  them  from 
any  insult;  Montgomery  especially  won  their  esteem, 
but  the  soldiery  they  regarded  as  little  better  than 
imps  of  hell,  though  they  could  not  complain  that  any 
discourtesy  was  shown  them  personally. 

On  the  6th,  two  companies  were  sent  to  Beauport 
to  watch  the  motions  of  the  enemy.  Captains  Duggan 


THE    INVESTMENT  193 

and  Smith  captured  a  vessel  with  its  crew  of  six  men, 
and  freighted  with  provisions  and  small  stock,  and  $382 
in  Government  cash,  not  far  from  the  Isle  of  Orleans. 
The  people  at  Pointe  a  la  Caille,  below  Quebec,  un 
loaded  the  supplies  from  a  craft  destined  for  the  city. 
Though  the  Canadians  seldom  so  openly  showed  the 
courage  of  their  convictions,  and  were  very  little  to  be 
depended  upon,  their  confidence  and  aid  would  surely 
keep  pace  with  the  increasing  certainty  of  rebel  success. 

The  English,  on  the  other  hand,  were  once  more 
cooped  up  in  Quebec.  However,  the  energetic  meas 
ures  of  Governor  Carleton  had  done  much  to  restore 
confidence  and  prevent  the  occurrence  of  seditious 
meetings,  and  the  city's  defenders  were  soon  united 
and  organized.  Business  men  and  others,  worth  three 
thousand  and  four  thousand  pounds,  cheerfully  did 
sentry  duty,  though  a  number  of  British  merchants, 
weather-cocks  in  politics,  had  voluntarily  withdrawn 
from  the  city  to  the  Island  of  Orleans,  to  Charles- 
bourg,  or  to  other  places  in  the  country  where  they 
had  villas,  to  await  the  result  of  the  siege,  and  hail 
it  with  '  *  God  save  the  King ! "  or  * '  Congress  forever ! ' ' 
according  to  circumstances.  All  others  who  would 
not  enroll  themselves  in  the  militia  had  been  com 
pelled  to  leave  the  city. 

The  first  care  of  the  garrison  after  Arnold's  re 
treat  to  Pointe  aux  Trembles  was  to  secure  stout  spar 
timber  for  palisading  a  great  extent  of  open  ground 
between  the  Palace  and  Hope  gates,  and  again  from 

18 


194        ARNOLD'S   EXPEDITION   TO    QUEBEC 

Cape  Diamond,  along  the  brow  of  the  cape  towards 
the  castle  St.  Louis.  They  began  palisading  at  Pal 
ace  gate,  behind  the  Hotel  Dieu,  loopholing  for  mus 
ketry,  and  constructed  a  projection  in  the  form  of  a 
bastion  as  a  defense  for  the  line  of  pickets,  and  in 
the  gorge  of  this  wooden  bastion  erected  a  blockhouse, 
which  made  an  excellent  defense.  The  Halifax  artifi 
cers,  as  soon  as  they  arrived,  were  set  to  work  at 
palisading  the  open  ground  on  Cape  Diamond,  and 
framing  and  erecting  a  large  blockhouse  on  the  out 
side  of  Porte  St.  Louis,  to  serve  as  a  captain's  guard 
house,  and  an  outpost  to  prevent  surprise;  also 
another  blockhouse  on  the  Cape,  under  Cape  Dia 
mond  bastion.  At  the  same  time  a  party  was  em 
ployed  in  laying  platforms  and  repairing  merlons  and 
embrasures,  while  carpenters  erected  barricades,  which 
we  shall  hereafter  more  particularly  describe,  at  Pres 
de  Ville  and  Sault  au  Matelot,  the  extremities  of  the 
Lower  Town.  All  the  windows  of  the  houses  next 
to  the  river  side,  facing  the  water,  were  blocked  up, 
leaving  only  loopholes  for  musketry,  that  they  might 
be  used  as  forts  in  case  the  St.  Lawrence  should  be 
frozen  over.  So  steadily  and  rapidly  was  the  work 
pushed  that  by  December  1  there  were  one  hundred 
and  fifty  pieces  of  artillery  mounted  and  ready  for 
service.  Provisions  for  eight  months  had  been  ac 
cumulated,  but  they  had  not  been  able  to  secure  more 
than  a  scant  supply  of  hay,  oats  and  firewood,  the  last, 
in  a  winter  siege  in  such  a  climate,  of  great  impor 
tance. 


THE    INVESTMENT  195 

On  December  1,  by  strenuous  exertions  in  recruit 
ing,  the  garrison  had  increased  their  strength  to  a 
total,  bearing  arms,  of  eighteen  hundred,  as  follows: 
22  of  the  4th  battalion,  Eoyal  Artillery,  70  of  the 
Koyal  Fusileers  or  7th  regiment,  230  Koyal  Emigrants 
or  the  84th  regiment,  330  British  militia,  543  Canadians, 
400  seamen,  50  masters  and  mates,  35  marines,  120 
artificers. 

Hardly  was  Montgomery  encamped  before  the  city, 
when  he  sent  forward  to  the  walls  a  letter  to  Carle- 
ton  demanding  the  surrender  of  the  place,  couched 
in  no  less  bombastic  tones  than  the  severely  criticised 
letters  of  Arnold.  This  communication  the  guard  on 
the  rampart  refused  to  receive,  though  it  did  at  last 
reach  Carleton  through  the  agency  of  a  woman  who 
on  some  pretext  or  other  gained  admission  to  the  city. 
By  the  Governor's  orders  she  was  at  once  imprisoned, 
and  a  few  days  later  drummed  out  of  town. 

The  only  response  to  the  letter  was  a  heavy  can 
nonade  of  the  suburbs  of  St.  Roque  and  St.  John, 
from  which  the  inhabitants  had  been  warned.  Mont 
gomery  immediately  addressed  to  the  citizens  of  Que 
bec  the  following  proclamation,  which,  with  sundry 
copies,  both  in  French  and  English,  of  his  letter  to 
Carleton  he  caused  to  be  shot  over  the  walls  on 
arrows : 

My  Brothers  and  Friends:—  The  unfortunate  necessity  of 
dislodging  the  Ministerial  troops  compels  me  to  besiege 
your  town.  It  is  with  the  greatest  reluctance  that  I  am 
compelled  to  resort  to  measures  which  may  be  disastrous  to 


196        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

you.  Your  town  a  prey  to  flames  at  this  season,  a  general 
assault  upon  ruined  walls  defended  by  still  worse  gar 
rison,  confusion,  carnage,  pillage— the  inevitable  followers 
of  an  assault,— these  thoughts  fill  me  with  horror.  I  en 
treat  you  to  use  every  exertion  in  your  power  to  obtain  for 
me  a  peaceable  entry.  Doubtless  you  have  had  no  faith  in 
the  base  calumnies  cast  abroad  to  our  disadvantage  by  the 
scoundrels  in  the  pay  of  the  Ministry.  The  arms  of  the 
Colonies  have  never  been  tarnished  by  any  act  of  violence 
or  inhumanity.  We  profess  to  come  to  ...  give  liberty 
and  peaceable  enjoyment  of  property  in  this  oppressed 
province,  having  always  respected,  as  sacred,  the  property 
of  individuals.  Enclosed  you  will  find  my  letter  to  General 
Carleton,  because  he  has  always  cleverly  evaded  allowing 
you  to  have  any  knowledge  which  was  proper  to  open  your 
eyes  to  your  interests.  If  he  is  still  obstinate  and  you 
allow  him  to  persist  in  enveloping  you  in  a  ruin  in  which 
perhaps  he  desires  to  hide  his  shame,  my  conscience  will 
not  reproach  me  with  having  failed  to  warn  you  of  your 

danger. 

RICHARD  MONTGOMERY. 

The  investment  of  the  city  was  now  complete,  and 
preparations  were  well  under  way  for  offensive  opera 
tions.  It  was  high  time.  Smallpox  had  broken  out 
among  the  peasantry,  and  as  the  men  fraternized 
and  in  many  instances  lodged  with  the  people,  it 
seemed  certain  that  the  army  would  soon  have  this 
new  terror  to  contend  with.  Spies,  both  men  and 
women,  sent  out  from  Quebec,  were  often  taken, 
but  it  does  not  appear  that  they  were  ever  executed. 
It  is  even  charged  that  women  of  loose  character  were 
sent  among  the  men  by  the  British  with  the  hope  that 
they  might  thus  infect  the  army  with  smallpox. 


THE    INVESTMENT  197 

While  the  New  England  and  New  York  troops  were 
completing  the  investment  of  the  town,  the  riflemen 
amused  themselves  every  day  by  popping  at  sentries 
from  behind  old  walls  and  houses  in  the  suburb  of 
St.  John.  Some  of  Carleton's  officers  condemned  his 
indulgence  because  he  had  not  burnt  all  of  these 
suburbs,  since  they  served  the  enemy  so  well  as  an 
ambush,  but  his  regard  for  the  loss  such  an  act  would 
entail  on  the  peasant  and  bourgeois  proprietors  held 
his  hand,  and  he  contented  himself  with  destroying  a 
few  near  the  ramparts.  Perhaps  he  also  feared  the 
ill-effect  of  so  severe  a  measure  upon  the  wavering 
Canadians. 

Arnold  had  ordered  Captain  Hanchett  to  move 
forward  and  take  quarters  near  the  city,  and  upon 
that  officer's  refusing  to  do  so,  on  the  same  ground 
that  he  had  before  taken  when  ordered  to  move  the 
heavy  guns  down  the  river— that  the  service  was  too 
dangerous— Arnold  sent  for  Captains  Topham,  Thayer 
and  Hubbard.  These  officers  consented,  and  were,  in 
consequence,  exposed  for  three  weeks  to  very  immi 
nent  danger.  Topham  and  Thayer  had  several  balls 
fired  through  their  quarters,  one  passing  between  them 
as  they  lay  in  their  bed  without  hurting  them. 

General  Montgomery  himself  had  an  escape  almost 
as  narrow.  On  the  8th  of  December  he  called  at  Me- 
nut's  tavern,  which  was  about  a  mile  west  of  the 
town.  A  few  minutes  after  he  got  out  of  his  cariole, 
a  cannon  shot  from  the  city  killed  his  horse  and  de 
molished  the  vehicle. 


198        ARNOLD'S   EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

The  arrival  of  the  artillery,  the  lack  of  which  had 
made  Arnold's  first  investment  of  the  city  almost  ri 
diculously  ineffective,  now  rendered  it  possible  to  con 
duct  the  siege  in  a  somewhat  more  soldierly  and 
impressive  manner.  Captain  John  Lamb,  who  with 
his  battery  of  seventy  men  had  come  with  Montgomery 
from  New  York,  was  in  command  of  the  guns,  and 
his  energies  were  for  some  days  fully  occupied  in  get 
ting  his  cannon  up  from  the  shore  of  the  river  to  the 
Heights  of  Abraham,  and  mounting  them  for  the  ser 
vice  they  were  to  perform.  Meanwhile  Montgomery 
and  Arnold  together  visited  the  General  Hospital  on 
the  St.  Charles,  and,  guided  by  the  trembling  Mother 
Superior,  ascended  to  the  cupola,  from  whence  they 
selected  the  site  for  their  first  battery.  The  soldiers 
at  once  began  to  erect  a  redoubt  on  this  spot,  taking 
advantage  of  an  eminence  on  the  road  to  St.  Foy, 
about  eight  hundred  yards  to  the  southwest  of  St. 
John's  gate,  on  the  easterly  slope  of  a  hill.  The  forti 
fication,  if  it  can  be  dignified  by  that  name,  was  made 
of  fascines  and  of  gabions  filled  with  what  little  earth 
the  men  could  scrape  up  from  the  frozen  ground,  and 
packed  with  snow.  Water  was  poured  freely  over  the 
whole  and  the  mass  allowed  to  freeze  solid.  It  was 
such  a  weak  defense  that  it  seems  almost  criminal  to 
have  ordered  men  to  serve  there.  The  play  of  the 
guns  of  the  enemy  would  be  so  lively  upon  the  breast 
works,  when  discovered,  that  the  artillerymen  did  not 
dare  at  first  to  labor  during  the  daytime,  and  it  was 
not  until  the  10th  that  the  platforms  were  erected  and 
the  guns  in  position.  The  battery  mounted,  when 
complete,  five  small  twelve-pounders  and  a  howitzer. 


THE    INVESTMENT  199 

At  daylight  on  the  same  day,  before  the  Americans 
were  ready  to  fire  their  first  gun,  the  English  discov 
ered  the  battery  and  immediately  opened  upon  it. 
In  short  order  it  was  bored  through  and  through 
with  their  balls,  and  several  of  the  cannoneers  were 
wounded.  The  American  artillerymen  only  succeeded 
in  throwing  a  few  shots  into  the  city.  But  they  had 
in  a  day  or  two  repaired  the  damage,  and  pluckily 
stood  to  their  guns,  while  the  feeble  breastworks  were 
again  riddled,  a  gun  disabled  and  the  howitzer  dis 
mounted.  Two  men  were  killed  and  five  wounded  by 
a  single  shot  of  the  enemy,  who,  during  the  13th,  by 
the  accuracy  of  their  fire,  seemed  certain  to  render  the 
position  untenable. 

Immediately  after  these  casualties,  Montgomery 
with  his  aide,  Burr,  visited  the  breastworks,  and  find 
ing  Lamb  and  his  brave  fellows  still  engaged,  re 
marked  to  the  captain:  "This  is  warm  work,  sir!" 
' '  It  is,  indeed, ' '  replied  Lamb ;  * '  and  certainly  no  place 
for  you."  "Why  not?"  inquired  the  General.  "Be 
cause  there  are  enough  of  us  here  to  be  killed  without 
the  loss  of  you,  which  would  be  irreparable,"  came 
the  sturdy  reply.  Shortly  afterward  the  plucky  cap 
tain  was  ordered  to  cease  firing  and  bring  off  his  guns. 
The  ice  battery  was  a  shattered  ruin,  and  had  proved 
a  costly  experiment. 

A  mortar  battery,  which  mounted  two  brass  three- 
pounders,  two  royal  and  three  howitzers,  was  also 
planted  by  the  Americans  near  the  center  of  the 
suburb  of  St.  Roque,  not  more  than  200  yards  from 


200        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

the  ramparts.  But  the  shells  were  only  of  five  and 
one-half  inches  and  did  no  damage  in  the  town,  ex 
cept  to  the  roofs  of  houses;  even  the  women  came 
to  laugh  at  them,  and  it  seems  certain  that  they 
killed  no  one.  However,  Dr.  Senter  notes  that, 
"agreeable  to  prescription,  fifty-five  more  of  the  fire- 
pills  were  given  to  the  Carletonians  last  evening. 
Operated  with  manifest  perturbation,  they  were,  as 
usual,  alarmed,  bells  beating,  dogs  barking,  etc. 
Their  cannonade  still  continued  on  the  battery,  but 
to  no  advantage.  Forty-five  more  pills  as  cathartic 
last  night. ' ' 

To  this  fusillade  the  enemy  responded  with  spirit, 
and  with  somewhat  more  effect.  On  the  14th  alone 
the  garrison  fired  three  hundred  and  fifty-seven  shot 
at  the  American  works.  A  few  men  who  had  ven 
tured  too  near  the  walls  and  were  sheltered  in  a 
house  in  one  of  the  suburbs  were  killed  and  several 
more  were  wounded,  while  Arnold  himself  was  obliged 
to  leave  his  quarters,  two  shots  having  passed  through 
the  house.  For  the  most  part,  however,  the  exchange 
of  hostilities,  though  noisy  and  persistent,  inflicted 
little  damage  on  either  force. 

It  is  evident,  indeed,  from  Montgomery's  letters 
to  General  Wooster,  who  remained  in  command  at 
Montreal,  that  he  never  placed  any  serious  reliance 
on  his  artillery,  and  knew  very  well  that  he  was  too 
feeble  in  that  arm  to  make  any  breach  in  the  city 
walls.  His  purpose  was  merely  to  deplete  the  ene 
my's  supply  of  ammunition,  to  annoy  them,  and  to 


THE    INVESTMENT  201 

distract  their  attention  from  his  real  design,— an 
assault  upon  the  city.  The  postponement  of  this 
from  day  to  day  was  occasioned  by  the  necessity  of 
recruiting  the  strength  and  spirits  of  the  men,  of 
giving  time  for  the  officers  to  discover  and  study  the 
approaches  to  the  weakest  points  in  the  city's  de 
fenses,  and  of  waiting  for  a  favorable  opportunity— 
a  dark  night,  stormy,  but  not  too  severely  cold. 

Montgomery,  before  joining  Arnold,  had  written  a 
letter  to  his  father-in-law,  Eobert  E.  Livingston,  then 
a  member  of  Congress,  which  shows  a  ready  compre 
hension  of  the  problems  which  would  confront  him  at 
Quebec,  and  states  so  clearly  the  situation  he  had  to  deal 
with  that  part  of  it  may  be  quoted  here,  as  follows : 

I  need  not  tell  you,  that,  till  Quebec  is  taken,  Canada  is 
unconquered ;  and  that,  to  accomplish  this,  we  must  resort 
to  siege,  investment,  or  storm.  The  first  of  these  is  out  of 
the  question,  from  the  difficulty  of  making  trenches  in  a 
Canadian  winter,  and  the  greater  difficulty  of  living  in 
them,  if  we  could  make  them;  secondly,  from  the  nature 
of  the  soil,  which,  as  I  am  at  present  instructed,  renders 
mining  impracticable,  and  were  this  otherwise,  from  the 
want  of  an  engineer  having  sufficient  skill  to  direct  the 
process;  and  thirdly,  from  the  fewness  and  lightness  of  our 
artillery,  which  is  quite  unfit  to  break  walls  like  those  of 
Quebec.  Investment  has  fewer  objections,  and  might  be 
sufficient,  were  we  able  to  shut  out  entirely  from  the  garri 
son  and  town  the  necessary  supplies  of  food  and  fuel,  dur 
ing  the  winter;  but  to  do  this  well  (the  enemy's  works 
being  very  extensive  and  offering  many  avenues  to  the 
neighboring  settlements)  will  require  a  large  army,  and 

19 


202        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION   TO    QUEBEC 

from  present  appearances  mine  will  not,  when  brought 
together,  much  if  at  all  exceed  eight  hundred  combatants. 
Of  Canadians  I  might  be  able  to  get  a  considerable  number, 
provided  I  had  hard  money,  with  which  to  clothe,  feed,  and 
pay  their  wages;  but  this  is  wanting.  Unless,  therefore, 
I  am  soon  and  amply  reinforced,  investment,  like  siege, 
must  be  given  up. 

To  the  storming  plan  there  are  fewer  objections;  and 
to  this  we  must  come  at  last.  If  my  force  be  small, 
Carleton 's  is  not  great.  The  extensiveness  of  his  works, 
which,  in  case  of  investment,  would  favor  him,  will  in  the 
other  case  favor  us.  Masters  of  Tmr  secret,  we  may  select 
a  particular  time  and  place  for  attack,  and  to  repel  this 
the  garrison  must  be  prepared  at  all  times  and  places,  a 
circumstance  which  will  impose  upon  it  incessant  watching 
and  labor  by  day  and  by  night,  which,  in  its  undisciplined 
state,  must  breed  discontents  that  may  compel  Carleton  to 
capitulate,  or  perhaps  to  make  an  attempt  to  drive  us  off, 
In  this  last  idea  there  is  a  glimmering  of  hope.  Wolfe's 
success  was  a  lucky  hit,  or  rather  a  series  of  such  hits. 
All  sober  and  scientific  calculation  was  against  him,  until 
Montcalm,  permitting  his  courage  to  get  the  better  of  his 
discretion,  gave  up  the  advantages  of  his  fortress,  and  came 
out  to  try  his  strength  on  the  plain.  Carleton,  who  was 
Wolfe's  quartermaster-general,  understands  this  well,  and, 
it  is  to  be  feared,  will  not  follow  the  Frenchman's  example. 
In  all  these  views,  you  will  discover  much  uncertainty;  but 
of  one  thing  you  may  be  sure,  that,  unless  we  do  some 
thing  before  the  middle  of  April,  the  game  will  be  up ; 
because  by  that  time  the  river  may  open  and  let  in  sup 
plies  and  reinforcements  to  the  garrison  in  spite  of  any 
thing  we  can  do  to  prevent  it;  and  again,  because  my  troops 
are  not  engaged  beyond  that  term,  and  will  not  be  pre 
vailed  upon  to  stay  a  day  longer. 


CHAPTER  XIII 
THE  ASSAULT  IS  PLANNED 

N  the  16th  of  December  a  general  council 
of  war  was  held,  and  the  voice  of  the 
majority  was  for  storming  the  works  as 
soon  as  the  soldiers  were  supplied  with 
bayonets,  hatchets  and  hand-grenades. 
Montgomery  himself  seems  to  have  favored  the  further 
use  of  the  artillery,  and  had  a  plan  for  concentrating 
his  fire  on  a  certain  point  in  the  north  redoubt,  which 
was  rather  inadequately  commanded  by  the  guns  of 
the  garrison.  He  hoped  that  by  means  of  parallels  a 
very  close  approach  could  be  made  to  the  ramparts, 
which  his  cannon  would  have  battered  more  or  less 
to  pieces,  and  saw  in  this  plan  the  best  opportunity 
for  a  successful  assault.  The  other  officers  to  a  man 
opposed  his  project,  and  though  chagrined  at  their 
decision,  the  commander  yielded  to  the  unanimous 
judgment. 

The  plan  of  assault  which  was  finally  concerted  by 
the  council  was  both  cunning  and  desperate,  and 
though  subsequent  events  necessitated  its  abandon 
ment,  it  probably  had  as  good  a  chance  of  success  as 
that  finally  adopted.  Four  simultaneous  attacks  were 
to  be  made  upon  the  Upper  Town  at  different  points 
along  the  wall  between  Cape  Diamond  and  Palace 

203 


204        ARNOLD'S   EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

gate.  Three  of  these  were  to  be  mere  feints;  the 
fourth  and  real  attack  was  to  be  an  heroic  attempt 
to  scale  the  walls  at  the  Cape  Diamond  bastion,  which 
the  English  considered  impregnable  by  reason  of  the 
defenses  which  nature  had  provided  there.  On  the 
night  of  a  severe  storm,  being  much  exposed  to  the 
weather,  it  might  be  left  with  a  very  small  guard. 
The  very  rashness  of  such  an  exploit  was  its  only 
warrant  for  success.  It  would  be  hardly  possible  to 
sufficiently  depress  the  guns  mounted  in  the  bastion 
so  as  to  sweep  any  enemy  from  the  cliff  when  once  at 
close  quarters,  and  if  the  bastion  was  gained  and  held 
even  for  a  very  short  time,  reinforcements,  as  they 
ascended,  would  be  sheltered  by  the  declivity,  and  the 
Americans  would  hold  a  vantage  point  from  which 
they  could  turn  the  guns  of  the  bastion  on  the  city 
below  them. 

Aaron  Burr,  who  had  been  taken  into  Montgomery 's 
military  family,  and  commissioned  a  captain,  was  en 
thusiastically  in  favor  of  this  daring  scheme,  and  hav 
ing  obtained  permission  from  Montgomery  to  select 
and  instruct  a  picked  party  of  fifty  men,  drilled  them 
unceasingly  with  scaling  ladders,  till  they  were  able 
to  mount  with  all  their  accoutrements  with  great  ease 
and  rapidity.  He  was  much  chagrined  therefore, 
when,  owing  to  the  representations  of  Mr.  Edward 
Antill  and  Mr.  James  Price,  rebel  merchants  of  Mon 
treal,  the  former  serving  as  Montgomery's  engineer, 
this  first  plan  was  dropped.  These  gentlemen  urged 
that  the  Lower  Town,  alone,  should  be  first  attempted, 
for  they  believed  it  could  be  taken  with  much  less 


THE    ASSAULT    IS    PLANNED  205 

loss  of  life,  and  if  once  occupied,  they  were  satisfied 
the  citizens  of  Quebec,  whose  wealth  was  chiefly  there, 
would  force  Governor  Carleton  to  surrender  the 
Upper  Town  without  further  bloodshed.  It  was  also 
suggested  by  some  one,  though  we  hope  not  by  an 
American,  that  after  having  acquired  possession  of 
the  Lower  Town,  and  having  forced  the  women  and 
children,  priests  and  citizens  to  mingle  with  the 
American  soldiers,  they  should  advance  upon  the 
Upper  Town,  in  the  expectation  that  the  garrison 
would  not  slaughter  the  crowd  indiscriminately.  There 
were  barriers,  pickets  and  redoubts  in  the  Lower 
Town  to  be  presently  described,  which  would  have  to 
be  passed  before  Mountain  street  and  the  narrow  pass 
to  the  Upper  Town  to  which  it  led  were  reached,  and 
unless  they  were  surmounted  in  this,  or  some  other 
nobler  way,  the  Americans  could  not  hope  to  long 
continue  in  possession  of  the  Lower  Town. 

The  execution  of  any  plan  at  all  was  delayed  from 
day  to  day,  however,  by  unfavorable  weather,  two  days 
of  heavy  snowfall  being  followed  by  several  days  of 
such  severe  cold  that  the  soldiers  could  hardly  ven 
ture  from  their  cantonments.  Men  who  were  working 
at  the  batteries  had  their  feet  frozen;  it  was  so  cold 
that  it  was  not  possible  to  handle  metal  of  any  sort, 
and  the  walls  of  the  city  were  covered  with  a  glisten 
ing  sheet  of  ice,  which  no  scaling  party,  however 
gallant,  could  surmount.  In  the  midst  of  this  vexa 
tious  delay  a  fresh  discouragement  dashed  the  spirits 
of  the  army.  Smallpox,  which  had  for  some  time 
been  prevalent  both  within  the  city  and  among  the 


206        ARNOLD'S   EXPEDITION   TO    QUEBEC 

Canadian  peasantry  outside  the  walls,  broke  out  in 
camp.  Five  men  of  Captain  Ward's  company  who 
were  first  stricken  with  the  disease  were  taken  to  the 
General  Hospital,  Dearborn's  company  moving  their 
quarters  from  that  building  to  a  house  just  across 
the  Eiver  St.  Charles.  But  as  the  malady  spread  and 
the  sick  list  became  menacing  in  its  size,  the  sufferers 
were  all  isolated  in  a  camp  between  Wolfe's  Cove 
and  Sillery,  three  miles  from  their  comrades.  There, 
without  beds,  medicine  or  careful  nursing,  their  con 
stitutions  wrestled  stubbornly  with  the  loathsome 
disease. 

As  if  Montgomery's  anxieties  were  not  yet  suffi 
ciently  great,  they  were  further  augmented  by  dis 
sension  among  the  officers  of  Arnold's  detachment, 
and  by  the  openly  expressed  determination  of  three 
of  the  New  England  companies,  whose  term  of  enlist 
ment  was  to  expire  on  the  last  day  of  the  year,  not 
to  remain  at  Quebec  after  that  date.  Captain  Han- 
chett,  who,  as  we  have  seen,  had  incurred  Arnold's 
rebuke  on  at  least  two  occasions  for  failure  to  perform 
the  duty  to  which  he  was  assigned,  seems  to  have 
been  at  the  bottom  of  most  of  the  trouble.  He,  with 
Captains  Goodrich  and  Hubbard  and  the  men  of  their 
companies,  declared  that  they  would  not  engage  in  so 
perilous  an  undertaking  as  the  proposed  assault  unless 
they  were  at  least  withdrawn  from  Arnold's  command. 
Montgomery,  as  we  learn  from  a  letter  to  General 
Wooster,  had  scant  patience  with  the  malcontents, 
and  had  his  position  enabled  him  to  do  so,  would 
have  dealt  rigorously  with  them.  But  in  the  weak- 


THE    ASSAULT    IS    PLANNED  207 

ened  condition  of  his  slender  force,  stern  measures 
might  easily  prove  too  drastic.  He  had  recourse  to 
diplomacy  and  succeeded  at  last  in  restoring  the  sem 
blance  of  subordination  and  discipline,  though  the 
relations  between  Arnold  and  his  recalcitrant  officers 
remained  cool,  and  the  New  England  volunteers  re 
fused  to  promise  the  extension  of  their  enlistment. 

Within  the  city  the  spirits  of  the  garrison  rose,  as 
the  embarrassments  of  the  besiegers  thickened. 
Nearly  three  weeks  of  inactivity  on  the  part  of  the 
Americans  had  done  much  to  restore  the  confidence 
of  the  soldiers  and  the  loyal  citizens.  The  British 
could  see  that  the  battery  on  the  plains  was  shat 
tered  and  useless;  they  had  watched  the  bodies  of 
the  cannoneers  carried  off  in  sleighs;  and  had  it  not 
been  for  the  pernicious  activity  of  the  riflemen,  their 
enemy  would  have  seemed  already  discomfited.  How 
could  they  have  any  apprehension  of  the  result  of  an 
assault?  The  cold  stiffened  every  sinew,  benumbed 
every  sense,  and  made  it  impossible  to  execute  any 
design  which  required  agility.  The  ice  and  snow 
lying  on  the  ways  leading  to  even  the  weakest  places 
in  their  defenses  rendered  them  very  strong.  The 
snow-drifts  against  the  ramparts  could  only  be  crossed 
on  snow-shoes. 

The  riflemen,  as  has  been  said,  were  alone  su 
perior  to  the  rigor  of  the  elements.  In  the  face  of 
driving  snow-storms,  or  piercing  Arctic  winds,  they 
stood  manfully  to  their  posts.  From  behind  walls, 
and  from  garret  windows  in  St.  Eoque,  from  the  site 


208        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

of  "La  Friponne,"  and  from  the  cupola  of  the  In- 
tendant's  Palace  (the  old  palace  of  Bigot),  the  un 
erring  bullets  of  these  "sons  of  liberty"  carried  death, 
wounds  or  dismay  to  every  combatant  who  was  in  the 
least  rash  or  incautious.  Even  at  noon  they  would 
creep  close  to  the  houses,  which  were  under  cover  of 
the  hill  near  Palace  gate,  till  they  were  within  forty 
yards  of  the  wall;  then  firing  through  windows,  or 
the  crevices  between  the  logs  of  some  cabin,  at  an 
angle  of  seventy  degrees  or  so,  they  deliberately 
picked  off  the  sentries  for  the  very  sport  and  excite 
ment  of  the  thing.  The  sheltering  acclivity  which 
favored  them  continues  from  the  walls  around  the 
Lower  Town  (where  it  is  steepest)  for  many  miles  up 
the  St.  Lawrence  and  St.  Charles,  and  surrounds  the 
Plains  of  Abraham;  near  the  suburb  St.  Eoque  it  is 
called  the  Cote  St.  Genevieve. 

The  British  officers  were  especially  exasperated  at 
what  they  called  the  "sulking"  tactics  of  the  rifle 
men,  for  though  a  score  or  more  of  their  sentries  were 
thus  killed  or  disabled,  it  was  impossible  to  inflict 
any  punishment  in  return.  Only  one  of  the  sharp 
shooters  is  reported  to  have  been  wounded.  He  was 
shot  through  both  lungs  by  a  grapeshot,  but  supported 
by  a  comrade  walked  more  than  a  mile  to  the  hos 
pital. 

Everything  now  united  to  convince  Montgomery 
that  if  an  assault  was  to  be  made  with  any  hope  of 
success  it  must  be  made  at  once.  The  smallpox  was 
daily  making  fresh  inroads  upon  his  slender  effective 


THE    ASSAULT    IS    PLANNED  200 

force,  and  there  was  barely  more  than  a  week  left 
before  the  expiration  of  the  enlistment  of  the  three 
disaffected  companies  in  Arnold's  corps.  Arms  and 
ammunition  were  distributed  to  the  men,  and  every 
man  was  ordered  to  wear  a  sprig  of  hemlock  in  his 
cap  to  distinguish  him  from  the  enemy,  for  the 
captured  British  regimentals  in  which  so  many  pro 
vincials  were  comfortably  clad  were  otherwise  likely 
to  prove  the  death  of  them  in  the  confusion  of  a 
night  assault.  The  night  of  the  23d  was  set  for  the 
great  adventure,  but  at  the  last  moment  another 
annoying  postponement  was  rendered  necessary.  Dur 
ing  the  day  Major  Caldwell's  clerk,  Joshua  Wolfe, 
who  had  been  detained  outside  the  walls,  with  the 
assistance  of  a  deserter— one  Singleton,  a  sergeant  of 
Montgomery's  force— and  a  bottle  of  rum  judiciously 
used,  managed  to  make  his  escape,  and  the  two  men, 
passing  by  the  way  of  Wolfe 's  Cove  and  Pres  de  Ville, 
were  admitted  to  the  city  at  ten  o'clock  in  the  even 
ing.  The  knowledge  of  this  circumstance  caused  the 
postponement,  for  it  was  correctly  surmised  that  Wolfe 
would  probably  carry  with  him  information  of  their 
intentions  for  that  night.  It  was  a  prudent  decision, 
for  Wolfe  and  Singleton  informed  the  British  circum 
stantially  of  the  preparations  which  were  making, 
adding  that ' '  Montgomery  had  offered  his  soldiers  $800 
plunder  each  and  that  he  had  five  hundred  clumsy 
scaling  ladders  prepared." 

"How  can  they  think  to  pass  the  ditch  weighed 
down  with  such  burdens,  and  wading  in  the  snow  in 
the  face  of  our  fire?"  writes  the  officer  who  records 


210        AKNOLD'S    EXPEDITION   TO    QUEBEC 

these  items   of  news:   ''The   enemy  reported  to  be 
about  2,000 ;  sickly ;  the  smallpox  among  them. ' ' 

Christmas  day  dawned  upon  an  army  still  inactive, 
restless  and  anxious,  hesitating  at  the  difficulties 
which  lay  before  it,  uneasy  at  its  own  weakness, 
daunted  by  the  epidemic  of  smallpox  which  continued 
to  spread  through  its  ranks.  A  few  weeks  before, 
Montgomery,  in  boastful  confidence,  had  declared 
that  he  would  eat  his  Christmas  dinner  either  in 
Quebec  or  in  hell.  Neither  alternative  was  realized, 
though,  oppressed  by  the  increasing  perplexities  of 
his  unfortunate  position  and  cheered  only  by  a  forlorn 
hope  of  success,  he  may  well  have  suffered  some  of 
the  pangs  of  purgatory.  His  letters  show  that  he 
was  determined  to  force  Congress  to  accept  his  resig 
nation  as  soon  as  he  could  with  honor  do  so.  These 
extracts  from  a  letter  to  Schuyler  show  how  hard, 
not  to  say  desperate,  he  found  his  situation: 

When  last  I  had  the  honor  to  write,  I  hoped  before  now 
to  have  had  it  in  my  power  to  give  you  some  good  news. 
I  then  had  reason  to  believe  the  troops  well  inclined  for  a 
coup-de-main.  I  have  since  discovered,  to  my  great  morti 
fication,  that  three  companies  of  Arnold's  detachment  are 
very  averse  to  the  measure.  There  is  strong  reason  to 
believe  their  difference  of  sentiment  from  the  rest  of  the 
troops  arises  from  the  influence  of  their  officers.  Captain 
Handchett,  who  has  incurred  Colonel  Arnold's  displeasure 
by  some  misconduct,  and  thereby  given  room  for  harsh 
language,  \s  at  the  bottom  of  it,  and  has  made  some  decla 
rations  which  I  think  must  draw  upon  him  the  censure  of 
his  country,  if  brought  to  trial.  .  .  .  This  dangerous 


THE    ASSAULT    IS    PLANNED  211 

party  threatens  the  ruin  of  our  affairs.  I  shall,  at  any 
rate,  be  obliged  to  change  my  plan  of  attack,  being  too 
weak  to  put  that  in  execution  that  I  had  formerly  deter 
mined  upon.  .  .  .  Strain  every  nerve  to  send  a  large 
corps  of  troops  down  the  instant  the  lake  is  passable.  It 
is  of  the  utmost  importance  we  should  be  possessed  of 
Quebec  before  succor  can  arrive,  and  I  must  here  again 
give  it  to  you  as  my  opinion,  and  that  of  several  sensible 
men  acquainted  with  this  province,  that  we  are  not  to 
expect  a  union  with  Canada  till  we  have  a  force  in  the 
country  sufficient  to  preserve  it  against  any  attempt  that 
may  be  made  for  its  recovery. 

One  difficulty  occurs  to  me:  How  are  these  troops  to 
be  paid  here?  The  Continental  money  will  not  be  received 
by  the  inhabitants.  I  had  distributed  part  of  it  to  the 
troops  at  Montreal;  few  would  accept  it.  The  consequence 
was  the  soldiers  offered  it  for  less  than  its  value,  and  so 
it  became  depreciated.  One  scheme  has  occurred  to  me, 
which  I  shall  communicate  by  this  opportunity  to  you  and 
our  other  friends  at  Montreal.  If  they  can  send  down  to 
the  army  such  articles  as  soldiers  choose  to  lay  out  their 
money  upon,  employing  sutlers  for  that  purpose  who  will 
receive  our  paper,  the  troops  may  then  be  paid  in  conti 
nental  currency,  which  will  not  be  depreciated;  the  soldiers 
will  not  grumble,  as  they  may  be  regularly  paid,  and,  by 
degrees,  the  inhabitants  may  acquire  confidence  in  it,  seeing 
our  merchants  take  it  freely.  I  am  amazed  no  money  has 
'arrived.  The  troops  are  uneasy,  and  I  shall,  by  and  by, 
be  at  my  wits'  ends  to  furnish  the  army  with  provisions. 
I  am  the  more  surprised,  as  I  am  credibly  informed  cash 
arrived  from  Philadelphia  at  Ticonderoga  three  weeks  since. 
I  have  almost  exhausted  Price,  having  had  upwards  of  five 
thousand  pounds,  York,  from  him.  I  must  take  this  oppor- 


212        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

tunity  of  acknowledging  his  service.  He  has  been  a  faithful 
friend  to  the  cause  indeed.  Having  so  clearly  reported  to 
you  my  determination  to  return  home,  I  take  it  for  granted 
measures  are  taken  to  supply  my  place.  Should  not  any 
body  arrive  shortly  for  that  purpose,  I  must  conclude  Con 
gress  means  to  leave  the  management  of  affairs  in  General 
Wooster's  hands;  and,  therefore,  if  this  business  should 
terminate  in  a  blockade,  I  shall  think  myself  at  liberty  to 
return.  However,  if  possible,  I  shall  first  make  an  effort 
for  the  reduction  of  the  town. 

I  will  shortly  comply  with  several  articles  of  directions 
which  I  have  received  from  you,  and  which  I  deferred  in 
hopes  of  complying  with  them,  before  now,  in  peaceable 
possession  of  Quebec.  The  strange,  divided  state  of  the 
troops,  all  this  campaign,  has  prevented  my  sending  re 
turns,  having  never  been  able  to  get  one  with  any  tolerable 
exactness.  The  three  discontented  companies  are  within  a 
feAV  days  of  being  free  from  their  engagements.  I  must 
try  every  means  to  prevent  their  departure;  and  in  this 
matter  I  am  much  embarrassed.  Their  officers  have  offered 
to  stay  provided  they  may  join  some  other  corps.  This  is 
resentment  against  Arnold,  and  will  hurt  him  so  much  that 
I  do  not  think  I  can  consent  to  it. 

On  the  afternoon  of  Christmas  day  the  troops  were 
paraded  before  Captain  Morgan's  quarters,  the  house 
of  a  Mr.  Devine,  and  the  General  addressed  them  in  a 
very  sensible,  spirited  manner,  on  the  subject  of  the 
intended  attack.  He  pointed  out  the  necessity  of  it 
and  the  certainty  of  its  success,  observing  that  noth 
ing  was  wanting  to  ensure  victory  but  the  exercise  of 
that  valor  which  they  had  so  triumphantly  displayed 
under  the  most  unparalleled  sufferings.  He  concluded 


THE    ASSAULT    IS    PLANNED  213 

by  saying  that  if  they  succeeded,  they  would  rescue  a 
province  from  the  British  yoke,  win  it  for  their  coun 
try,  and  obtain  for  themselves  immortal  honor.  His 
address  greatly  encouraged  the  men,  who  replied  with 
cheers  and  expressions  of  their  willingness  to  follow 
wherever  he  led.  But  the  New  England  farmers  and 
sailors  were  anxious  to  return  to  their  families,  and  the 
fast  approaching  opportunity,  together  with  the  harsh 
ness  of  the  service  and  their  fear  of  smallpox,  made 
them  so  obstinate  in  their  refusal  to  extend  their  en 
listment  that  Montgomery  needed  all  his  powers  of 
persuasion,  tact  and  eloquence  to  keep  them  on  the 
ground.  They  were  almost  deaf  to  all  patriotic  rep 
resentations  ;  their  enthusiasm  for  liberty  was  well- 
nigh  frozen  to  death.  The  influence  of  such  personal 
magnetism  and  magnificent  courage  as  that  of  Mont 
gomery,  Arnold  and  Morgan,  the  examples  of  stead 
fast  patriotism  and  uncomplaining  attention  to  duty 
set  by  Hendricks,  Lamb  and  Meigs,  alone  held  them 
together;  though  there  were  many  who,  while  they 
anxiously  longed  to  return,  had  enough  of  bulldog  grit 
and  tenacity  left  to  yearn  to  make  one  last  attempt 
upon  the  city  before  retiring  discomfited. 

An  assault  upon  such  formidable  works  seemed  to 
the  officers  so  exceptionally  hazardous  that  they  felt 
it  just  to  the  men  to  learn  and  weigh  their  sentiments 
with  regard  to  its  advisability.  Influenced  by  the 
spirited  words  of  Montgomery,  upon  the  question  be 
ing  put,  they  voted  in  the  affirmative.  The  riflemen, 
to  whom  fighting  had  become  second  nature  and  who 
were  more  than  a  thousand  miles  from  their  homes, 


214        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

were  naturally  not  unwilling  to  remain  with  the  Gen 
eral,  and  gallantly  offered  to  do  so,  even  if  he  should 
be  abandoned  by  the  eastern  men. 

The  weather  of  the  26th  did  not  favor  any  offen 
sive  operations,  for  it  was  inconceivably  cold,  and  no 
man  could  handle  his  arms  or  scale  a  wall,  so  the 
promised  assault  was  delayed  until  the  27th.  "It  is 
employment  enough  to  preserve  one's  nose,"  writes  a 
British  officer  on  duty  on  the  ramparts.  "A  sentry 
this  afternoon  had  his  eyes  frozen  together,  and  was 
carried  blind  into  the  guard-house."  The  bitter  cold 
continued  for  several  days  and  made  the  postpone 
ment  of  the  attack  again  and  again  necessary. 

All  this  time  the  garrison  at  Quebec  had  been 
lying  on  their  arms  in  momentary  expectation  of  an 
attack.  General  Carleton  and  his  officers  slept  at  the 
Eecollets — the  Jesuit  College— in  their  clothes.  Three 
nine-pounders  were  added  to  the  flanks  of  each 
bastion.  At  night  the  soldiers  could  see  many  fire 
signals  all  over  the  surrounding  country,  which  they 
surmised  to  be  from  one  guard  of  Americans  to  an 
other.  They  felt  the  crisis  to  be  close  at  hand. 

Were  there  no  weak  places  in  the  city's  armor! 
Was  it  not  possible  for  the  Americans,  like  the  Greeks 
before  Troy,  to  find  another  wooden  horse  and  to 
enter,  by  craft,  where  they  could  not  force  a  pass 
age?  Officer  after  officer  had  closely  examined  every 
part  of  the  fortifications,  yet  no  one  could  devise  any 
expedient  which  gave  encouraging  promise  of  suc 
cess.  They  had  even  tried  to  seduce  the  guards  at 


THE   ASSAULT    IS   PLANNED  215 

St.  John's  gate,  but  had  been  circumvented  by  the 
vigilance  of  Dupre,  who  had  discovered  the  plot,  and 
imprisoned  the  would-be  betrayers.  At  Pres  de  Ville, 
by  the  narrow  cart-road,  some  weakness  might  before 
have  existed,  but  it  was  plain  that  the  enemy  had 
diligently  strengthened  that  pass  till  it  was  almost 
impregnable.  The  Americans  could  see  a  long  line 
of  strong  wooden  pickets,  fifteen  or  twenty  feet  high, 
knit  together  by  stout  railings  at  the  top  and  bottom, 
which  extended  from  the  wall  of  masonry  on  Cape 
Diamond  slantingly  down  the  side  of  the  precipice 
across  the  cart-road  to  the  brink  of  the  river,  where 
it  ended  at  the  distance  of  about  one  hundred  yards 
from  the  point  of  the  rock.  Enormous  jagged  blocks 
of  river  ice  had  been  forced  one  upon  the  other,  high 
up  on  the  bank  till  they  reached  this  palisade  and  ef 
fectually  closed  any  passage  around  it  near  the  water. 

Within  it  and  only  a  few  yards  from  the  very 
point  of  the  precipice,  they  knew  there  was  a  second 
similar  palisade,  though  it  did  not  run  so  high  up 
the  hill.  Again,  about  fifty  yards  within,  and  con 
cealed  by  the  rock,  was  a  blockhouse,  which  nearly 
filled  the  narrow  space  between  the  foot  of  the  prom 
ontory  and  the  precipitous  bank  of  the  river,  leaving 
a  footpath  only  on  either  side  of  it.  This  blockhouse 
was  forty  or  fifty  feet  square,  built  of  large  logs 
neatly  squared  and  dovetailed.  The  lower  story  was 
loopholed  for  musketry  and  the  upper  story  pierced 
with  ports  for  two  cannon  mounted  within,  charged, 
it  was  not  to  be  doubted,  with  grape  and  canister 
and  pointed  accurately  toward  the  cart-road,  where 


216        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION   TO    QUEBEC 

it  turned  the  precipice  of  Cape  Diamond  within  the 
second  palisade.  At  about  twenty  paces  beyond  this 
second  palisade  was  the  potash  factory  of  a  Mr. 
Price,  occupied  then  as  a  guard-house.  Besides  the 
cannon  in  the  upper  story  of  the  blockhouse,  there 
were  two  cannon  behind  the  second  palisade,  also  cov 
ering  the  narrow  road,  and  a  fifth,  "dans  une  petite 
batisse  an  bout  de  la  maison,"  which  swept  the  plat 
form  of  the  palisade. 

The  obstacles  at  Sault  au  Matelot  were  not  less 
formidable  and  could  not  be  reached  without  passing 
through  the  suburb  St.  Eoque,  along  a  narrow  road 
past  Palace  gate,  close  to  the  St.  Charles,  within 
shot-gun  range  of  the  walls.  The  attacking  force 
would  be  exposed  to  a  merciless  fire  of  small  arms 
and  cannon  at  this  close  range  for  nearly  half  a  mile, 
sheltered  only  by  such  scattered  sheds,  storehouses 
and  wharves  as  lined  the  river,  before  they  reached 
a  barrier  and  battery  mounting  two  twelve-pounders, 
just  beyond  the  precipice  of  Sault  au  Matelot.  Within 
two  hundred  yards,  closing  the  western  ends  of  Sault 
au  Matelot  street  and  St.  Peter's  street,  they  had 
been  accurately  informed  by  spies  and  deserters,  was 
another  strong  barricade  about  twelve  feet  high  con 
necting  some  outbuildings,  on  the  roofs  of  which 
cannon  were  mounted,  while  flanking  the  two-gun 
battery  on  the  northeast  was  another  battery  of  four 
guns  on  Lymbourner's*  wharf,  so  placed  as  to  com 
pletely  command  the  guns  behind  the  first  barrier. 

*  This  name  is  variously  spelled. 


SAULT    AU    MATELOT    STREET. 

Showing  Mountain  Street,  which  leads  to  the  rig  hi  toward 

the  entrance  to  the  Upper  Town. 


THE    ASSAULT    IS   PLANNED  217 

The  barrier  and  battery  were  connected  and  further 
protected  on  the  east  by  a  guard-house  and  strong 
palisade.  Should  the  guns  of  the  barrier  fall  into 
the  possession  of  the  attacking  party,  they  could  not 
hope  to  fight  them  till  they  had  also  silenced  the 
battery  on  the  wharf. 

Such  was  the  strength  of  the  fortress  to  be  assaulted 
at  night,  in  the  dead  of  winter,  in  the  face  of  a  gar 
rison  of  nearly  double  their  numbers!  The  extent  of 
the  works  and  the  hope  of  a  sympathetic  uprising  of 
the  citizens— what  else  gave  the  least  encouragement 
to  the  Americans'? 


20 


CHAPTER  XIV 
THE  ASSAULT  ON  QUEBEC 

HE  task  which  the  Americans  had  set 
for  themselves— so  Arnold  had  written 
Washington  on  November  20— could  not 
be  properly  undertaken  with  less  than 
twenty-five  hundred  men.  More  than  a 
month  had  elapsed  since  that  letter  was  written,  and  the 
garrison  of  Quebec,  reinforced,  had  well  improved  the 
time  in  strengthening  and  repairing  the  fortifications. 
Nevertheless,  Montgomery  had  determined  to  hazard 
an  assault  with  scarcely  one  thousand  effectives,  not 
counting  one  hundred  and  sixty  Canadians  upon  whose 
steadfastness  he  could  not  rely.  But  the  enlistment  of 
the  New  England  troops  had  now  but  a  day  or  two 
longer  to  run,  and  Montgomery  knew  that  the  assault 
must  be  made  now  or  never.  The  American  officers 
watched  any  indications  of  the  weather  with  the 
greatest  anxiety,  while  the  rank  and  file  were  allowed 
to  return  to  quarters  and  even  given  some  liberty  in 
the  farmhouses  and  tippling  shops  of  the  vicinity, 
doubtless  from  fear  that  too  great  strictness  of  disci 
pline  would  breed  more  rapid  desertion;  and  perhaps 
also  to  allay  the  suspicions  of  the  garrison.  But  it 
was  well  understood  among  them  that  the  first  snow 
storm  in  the  early  hours  of  the  morning  was  to  be 
the  signal  for  reassembling  and  for  the  long-expected 

218 


THE  ASSAULT  ON  QUEBEC       219 

attack  upon  the  city.  These  hours  of  leisure  the  sol 
diers  employed  in  characteristic  fashion.  It  is  re 
corded  that  several  men,  who,  according  to  general 
belief,  had  feigned  sickness  to  avoid  military  duty, 
had  halters  placed  about  their  necks,  and  were  driven 
by  their  more  resolute  brothers-in-arms  with  jeers 
and  lashes  through  the  camp. 

One  by  one  the  precious  days,  still  clear  and  cold, 
slipped  away.  The  army  had  undergone  its  share  of 
stormy  weather;  now,  when  a  cloudy  sky  was  essen 
tial  to  its  plans,  the  heavens  were  exasperatingly 
clear.  On  the  last  night  of  the  year  the  moon  rose  in 
unclouded  splendor  over  the  fortified  city  and  its  en 
virons;  its  placid  light  glistened  on  the  snow-covered 
roofs  and  icy  ramparts,  and  sent  broad  bands  of  sil 
ver  across  the  frozen  crust  on  the  Plains  of  Abraham. 
All  was  quiet  in  the  direction  of  the  town,  except  at 
long  intervals,  when  the  cries  of  the  sentinels  on  the 
walls,  " All's  well!"  could  be  distinctly  heard.  Nor 
was  there  much  movement  within  the  American  lines. 
Now  and  then,  when  a  door  of  one  of  the  public 
houses  in  St.  Boque  opened,  the  roistering  laughter  of 
a  group  of  soldiers  could  be  heard,  as  the  light  from  a 
huge  wood-fire  flashed  on  the  snow  without.  In  front 
of  the  Holland  house,  arrayed  in  a  blanket  coat  and 
cape,  paced  a  solitary  sentinel,  who  saluted  as  officers 
passed  in  and  out,  and  then  briskly  continued  on  his 
beat,  for  it  was  intensely  cold. 

Montgomery,  alone  in  his  quarters,  strode  anx 
iously  to  and  fro,  much  agitated,  no  doubt,  by  thoughts 


220        ARNOLD'S   EXPEDITION   TO    QUEBEC 

of  his  terrible  responsibility,  and  of  the  fleeting  hours 
which  were  rapidly  ending  the  enlistment  of  many  of 
his  men,  most  of  them  doubtless  as  anxious  to  return 
to  their  wives  and  families  as  he  was  to  rejoin  his 
own  dear  young  wife,  so  bravely  left  at  his  beautiful 
home  on  the  Hudson.  He  had  bade  her  adieu  say 
ing,  "You  shall  never  blush  for  your  Montgomery!" 
But  was  his  duty  plain!  A  refusal  to  order  his  men 
to  storm  the  city  might  well  be  excused,  so  desperate 
was  the  undertaking.  Many  experienced  military 
men  would  unhesitatingly  condemn  such  an  attempt 
as  mad  and  criminal;  perhaps  he  would  be  court- 
martialed  for  sacrificing  his  troops  in  a  hopeless 
enterprise,  undertaken  without  any  fair  warrant  of 
success,  contrary  to  his  own  recorded  judgment. 
Was  it  true  patriotism  which  animated  him?  Let 
him  examine  himself  well,  lest  he  fight  for  personal 
glory,  to  round  out  his  triumphant  career  in  Canada 
by  the  capture  of  this  last  stronghold  of  the  Crown. 

On  the  other  hand,  to  raise  the  siege  meant  not 
only  to  lose  Quebec,  but  would  soon  make  it  neces 
sary  to  evacuate  Montreal,  and  to  give  up  Chambly 
and  St.  Johns;  for,  with  the  breaking  of  the  ice  in 
the  spring,  Quebec  would  be  heavily  reinforced,  and 
Carleton  ready  for  an  aggressive  campaign.  Then 
the  "back  door"  would  be  again  opened,  the  British 
would  pour  in,  and  the  colonies  would  cry  shame 
upon  the  man  who,  by  one  gallant  effort,  might  have 
seized  Quebec  and  turned  the  tide.  Could  he  not 
foresee  the  British  armies  of  Burgoyne  and  St.  Le- 
ger  on  their  triumphant  march  of  invasion!  Could  he 


THE    ASSAULT    ON    QUEBEC  221 

divine  their  blunders!  To  withdraw  now,  laid  him 
open  to  a  charge  of  cowardice.  Was  he  only  capa 
ble  of  easy  victories! 

But  even  as  he  despondently  dwelt  upon  his  per 
plexing  situation,  a  cold  wind  arose  and  there  fell 
the  first  snow-flakes  of  a  gathering  storm.  It  was 
midnight  and  the  heavens  were  overcast,  the  moon 
totally  obscured.  On  this,  the  last  day  of  the  enlist 
ment  of  the  New  England  men,  the  storm,  so  long 
and  impatiently  awaited,  had  come  at  last!  Provi 
dence  pointed  toward  Quebec.  Officers  and  men 
knew  full  well  what  the  coming  storm  signaled,  and 
already  the  tramp  of  hurrying  feet  could  be  heard  in 
the  narrow  village  street,  as  the  men  left  the  farm 
houses  where  they  lodged  to  join  their  commands. 
The  die  was  cast;  the  command  given;  and  the  col 
umns  formed  for  the  assault.  To  replace  the  sprig 
of  hemlock,  every  man  fixed  a  piece  of  paper  in  his 
cap  on  which  he  scribbled  the  device  of  the  riflemen, 
"Liberty  or  death!" 

The  New  York  regiments  and  part  of  Easton's 
Massachusetts  militia  assembled  at  the  Holland 
house;  Arnold's  detachment  and  Lamb's  company  of 
artillerists  at  Captain  Morgan's  quarters;  the  corps 
of  Canadians  under  Captain  James  Livingston  and 
a  small  party  under  Captain  Jacob  Brown,  at  their 
respective  parade  grounds.  (It  is  evident  from  the 
entries  in  several  diaries,  as  well  as  from  a  letter 
from  Colonel  Campbell,  that  it  was  Captain  Brown 
of  Major  Brown's  (his  brother's)  detachment  who 


led  this  party.  I  think  even  Mr.  Bancroft  and  Mr. 
Sparks,  as  well  as  every  other  historian  whose  work 
has  come  to  my  attention,  have  overlooked  this  fact 
and  have  not  unnaturally  credited  Major  John  Brown 
with  the  leadership.  Captain  Brown  died  soon  after 
of  smallpox  before  Quebec.  Major  Brown*  fell  in 
action  during  the  war;  perhaps  this  will  explain  why 
the  mistake  has  not  been  corrected  before  this  time.) 

The  original  daring  plan  for  an  assault  upon  the 
wall  of  the  Upper  Town  itself  had  long  ago  been 
abandoned.  The  Lower  Town  was  now  to  be  the 
object  of  the  attack.  In  accordance  with  the  scheme 
devised  by  the  council  of  war,  Arnold's  detachment 
was  to  approach  the  city  from  the  General  Hospital 
through  St.  Roque,  and  then  to  storm  the  barrier  at 
Sault  au  Matelot;  Montgomery's  force  was  to  advance 
to  the  city  from  the  Holland  house,  descending  first 
to  Wolfe's  Cove,  and  moving  along  the  beach  of  the 
St.  Lawrence  by  way  of  Anse  des  Meres,  to  force  the 
barrier  and  palisades  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
Lower  Town  at  Pres  de  Ville;  then  to  penetrate  into 
the  Lower  Town  through  Champlain  street.  These 
were  the  important  movements  upon  which  Mont 
gomery  relied.  Should  they  succeed,  the  two  divi 
sions  were  to  press  on  to  the  center  of  the  Lower 
Town,  where  they  were  to  join  near  the  foot  of  Moun 
tain  street,  which  led  through  the  narrow  picketed 
passage  to  the  Upper  Town. 

*  Major — afterwards  Lieut.  Col. — John  Brown  was  of  Pittsfield, 
Mass.  His  quarrel  with  Arnold  is  a  matter  of  history.  His  death 
occurred  at  Stone  Arabia,  N.  Y.,  October  19,  1780.  [Eo.] 


THE    ASSAULT    ON    QUEBEC  223 

If  victory  still  attended  them,  their  intention  was 
then  either  to  attack  the  Upper  Town  at  once,  to  put 
into  practice  the  cowardly  suggestion  before  mentioned 
of  massing  the  women  and  children,  and  using  them 
as  a  shield  (let  us  hope  this  project  was  never  seriously 
entertained),  or  to  count  upon  the  pressure  which  the 
citizens  might  bring  to  bear  upon  Governor  Carleton 
to  surrender.  Some  unexpected  chance  might  come 
to  their  aid.  Should  the  Lower  Town  be  gained,  while 
they  were  still  unable  to  force  the  works  leading  to 
the  Upper  Town,  they  could  fire  the  buildings  and 
shipping  near  them,  keeping  to  the  windward.  And 
should  the  enemy  sally,  in  the  midst  of  the  dire  con 
fusion  which  must  arise,  as  the  populace,  crazed  with 
terror,  rushed  upon  the  open  gate  whence  the  sallying 
party  had  issued,  the  Americans,  mingled  with  the 
crowd  and  concealed  by  the  dense  clouds  of  smoke, 
might  force  their  way,  pell-mell,  within  the  walls  of 
the  Upper  Town,  driving  back  the  garrison  before 
them. 

These  were  desperate  chances,  but  every  chance 
was  weighed.  Failing  in  all  this,  they  believed  that 
so  great  an  achievement  as  the  taking  of  the  Lower 
Town  would  greatly  encourage  the  wavering  Cana 
dians,  and  felt  confident  that  they  would  hasten  to 
aid  the  victors,  and  recruit  their  strength  till  they 
could  assail  the  Upper  Town  at  so  many  different 
points  at  once  that  the  garrison  could  not  adequately 
man  the  walls.  Why  should  Montgomery  expect  less 
sympathy  in  Quebec  than  in  Montreal?  Had  not  Car- 
le£on  confessed  the  feebleness  of  the  allegiance  of  the 


224        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

Canadians  when  he  abandoned  a  city  of  twelve  thou 
sand  inhabitants  to  defend  one  of  half  that  number? 
It  appears  from  Montgomery's  letters  to  his  wife  that 
he  had  conceived  a  contempt  for  the  British  troops 
and  officers  then  in  Canada  owing  to  their  conduct 
at  Montreal,  at  Chambly  and  at  Sorel,  and  doubtless 
thought  they  might  be  seized  with  another  panic. 
Should  not  his  star,  so  strangely  fortunate,  reach  the 
zenith,  even  if,  like  Wolfe,  he  fell  while  it  shone  most 
brightly? 

Further  to  distract  and  deceive  the  city's  defenders, 
Captain  Livingston,  with  his  Canadians,  was  to  make 
an  attempt  to  burn  St.  John's  gate,  while  Captain 
Brown  with  his  party  was  to  make  a  feigned  escalade 
near  Cape  Diamond  bastion.  Ensign  Knowles  with 
a  few  men  was  to  proceed  to  Palace  gate,  and,  if  pos 
sible,  set  it  on  fire,  for  which  purpose  a  number  of 
boxes  of  tar  and  pitch  and  other  combustibles  had 
been  prepared  by  Captain  Noble.  An  advance  party 
of  thirty-five  men  was  to  proceed  to  Drummond's 
wharf,  below  Cape  Diamond;  still  another  advance 
party  under  Captain  Eleazar  Oswald  was  to  steal 
past  Palace  gate,  and  attack  the  barricade  at  Sault 
au  Matelot  street.  The  St.  Eoque  battery  was  to 
shell  the  town.  The  plan  was  well  thought  out, 
could  the  appearance  and  attacks  of  the  respective 
advance  parties  and  feigned  assaults  be  absolutely 
simultaneous.  For  thus  the  garrison,  seemingly  as 
sailed  at  once  in  every  direction,  must  be  scattered  in 
at  least  five  detachments  over  fortifications  nearly 
three  miles  in  extent.  Then  the  full  weight  of  the 


THE  ASSAULT  ON  QUEBEC       225 

columns  of  Montgomery  and  Arnold,  suddenly  hurled 
in  to  the  support,  respectively,  of  the  Drummond 
wharf  and  Sault  au  Matelot  advance  parties,  were  to 
break  the  ends  of  the  line,  and  join,  as  nearly  as 
possible,  in  the  center  of  the  Lower  Town. 

In  Arnold's  column  there  must  have  been  nearly 
six  hundred  men;  in  Montgomery's  not  many  more 
than  three  hundred;  with  Captain  Livingston  there 
were  between  one  hundred  and  fifty  and  two  hun 
dred,  while  the  men  under  Captain  Brown  probably 
numbered  from  fifty  to  one  hundred. 

As  the  lines  were  formed,  the  officers  moved  back 
and  forth  between  them,  inspecting  each  man's  arms 
and  accoutrements.  It  was  now  very  dark,  the  storm 
was  fully  upon  them,  the  wind  sending  the  snow  in 
swirls  along  the  road,  as  it  swept  in  gusts  around 
the  corners  of  the  houses.  It  was  too  cold  to  keep 
the  men  long  out  of  doors,  except  when  in  motion. 
Very  soon,  about  half-past  three  o'clock,  the  order 
came  to  march,  and  each  column  moved  to  the  duty 
assigned  to  it.  The  signal  for  the  assault  was  to  be 
three  sky-rockets  sent  up  at  five  o'clock  near  Cape 
Diamond  by  Captain  Brown. 

Montgomery  and  Arnold  headed  their  respective 
divisions— Montgomery  much  against  the  wishes  of 
his  officers,  who  begged  him,  as  their  leader,  to 
exercise  more  discretion  for  the  good  of  all.  But 
he  was  stubborn  in  his  resolution  to  set  a  good  ex 
ample  for  his  men,  who,  he  must  have  felt,  would 
need  to  be  led,  rather  than  driven,  to  such  a  desper- 
21 


226        ARNOLD'S   EXPEDITION   TO    QUEBEC 

ate  undertaking.  It  certainly  was  a  crisis  that  de 
manded  that  reckless  enthusiasm  which  great  personal 
risk  on  the  part  of  a  commanding  officer  usually 
arouses  in  his  followers.  Into  such  a  breach  Napoleon 
threw  himself  at  the  bridge  of  Arcole,  Berthier  at 
Lodi;  so  did  Wolfe  and  Montcalm  venture  their  lives 
on  these  very  Plains  of  Abraham.  Who  shall  say, 
therefore,  that  Montgomery  should  not  have  trusted 
fortune  as  did  Napoleon,  because  he  met  the  fate  of 
Montcalm? 

Arnold,  with  Morgan  and  Greene  beside  him,  and 
the  thirty  pickets  under  Captain  Oswald  in  advance, 
passed  silently  through  the  streets  of  St.  Eoque,  and 
crept  forward  with  the  utmost  caution  along  the 
water-front  toward  the  first  barrier  at  Sault  au 
Matelot.  He  was  closely  followed  by  his  division 
in  the  following  order : 

Morgan's  company  of  Virginians;  Lamb's  com 
pany  of  artillery,  with  an  eight-pound  brass  field 
piece  on  a  sled;  then  the  companies  of  Topham, 
Thayer,  Ward  and  Hendricks;  Smith's  company 
under  Lieutenant  Steele,  and  last  the  companies  of 
Goodrich,  Hanchett  and  Hubbard.  Major  Bigelow 
was  with  Ward's  company,  and  commanded  the  cen 
ter;  Major  Meigs  was  with  Hubbard 's  company,  and 
commanded  the  rear.  Captain  Dearborn's  company, 
quartered  across  the  St.  Charles  at  Mr.  Henry's, 
was  to  join  at  St.  Eoque  and  to  fall  in  behind  Mor 
gan's  company,  but  Arnold's  division  having  got  un 
der  way  later  than  the  others,  because  they  failed  to 


THE    ASSAULT    ON    QUEBEC  227 

see  the  signal  rockets,  passed  through  St.  Roque 
nearly  a  half  hour  behind  time,  and  noting  that  the 
tide  was  up  so  that  Dearborn  could  not  yet  cross  the 
St.  Charles,  pressed  on  without  waiting,  expecting  him 
soon  to  arrive  and  drive  up  the  rear. 

Meantime  the  British  officers  were  watching  the 
suburbs  St.  John  and  St.  Roque  and  the  Plains  of 
Abraham  for  any  signals  of  the  Americans  which 
might  mean  a  movement  upon  the  works,  for  in 
formed  as  they  were  by  deserters  that  they  might 
expect  an  attack  on  the  first  stormy  night,  they  had 
now  every  reason  to  think  that  the  conditions  prayed 
for  by  the  Americans  had  been  granted.  As  Captain 
Malcolm  Fraser  of  the  Royal  Emigrants,  who  that 
night  commanded  the  main  guard  in  the  Upper  Town, 
was  going  his  rounds,  and  had  passed  the  guard  at 
the  St.  Louis  gate,  about  five  o'clock  in  the  morn 
ing  he  saw  the  three  sky-rockets  spring  into  the  air 
from  the  heights  without  the  works  at  Cape  Diamond. 
Surmising  at  once  that  this  was  the  signal  for  the 
assault,  he  hurried  notice  to  all  the  guards,  and  ran 
down  St.  Louis  street,  shouting,  "Turn  out,  turn 
out!"  His  cry  was  heard  by  General  Carleton  and 
his  staff  at  the  Recollets,  who  instantly  sprang  to 
arms.  Captain  Fraser  ordered  the  alarm-bell  rung, 
while  the  drums  of  his  guard  beat  to  arms.  Within 
a  few  minutes  most  of  the  garrison  were  at  their 
alarm-posts,  every  person  able  to  bear  arms  was  in 
motion,  even  old  men  upwards  of  seventy,  and  before 
long  all  the  bells  of  the  city  were  clamoring  forth 
the  alarm.  All  the  British  sentries  between  Cape 


228        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

Diamond  and  Palace  gate  now  reported  many  repeated 
flashes  like  lightning,  and  at  regular  distances,  on 
the  Heights  of  Abraham,  lights  which  seemed  to  be 
lanterns  placed  on  poles.  A  few  moments  later  a 
heavy  and  hot  fire  was  opened  upon  the  ramparts 
by  a  body  of  men  posted  behind  a  rising  ground 
within  eighty  yards  of  the  wall  at  Cape  Diamond. 
By  the  flashes  of  their  muskets  their  heads  could  be 
seen  though  their  bodies  were  covered. 

The  head  of  Arnold's  column  had  by  this  time 
silently  picketed  in  past  Palace  gate,  and  even  be 
yond  the  Hotel  Dieu  without  being  discovered.  It 
was  still  very  dark.  The  storm  had  become  almost 
a  blizzard.  A  cutting  northeast  wind  blew  the  fine 
particles  of  snow  into  the  men's  faces,  half  blinding 
them,  so  that  they  were  obliged  to  bend  under  the 
blast  and  move  faithfully  in  the  footsteps  of  their 
leaders,  filled  and  concealed,  almost  as  soon  as  made, 
by  the  fast-falling  snow.  They  protected  the  pans  of 
their  flintlocks  as  well  as  they  could  under  the  skirts 
or  lapels  of  their  woollen  blanket  coats,  but  the  snow 
catching  on  the  rough  surface  was  soon  melted  by  the 
heat  of  their  bodies,  and  most  of  their  muskets  and 
rifles  were  soon  rendered  useless.  The  ice  from  the 
St.  Charles  forced  up  in  great  blocks  against  the 
roadside  occasioned  deep  snow-drifts  and  narrowed  the 
passage  beneath  the  walls  so  much  that  the  column 
had  to  break  into  files  in  order  to  advance  rapidly. 
There  were  many  warehouses,  sheds,  and  wharves 
scattered  along  the  river,  and  ice-bound  small  craft 
were  moored  to  them  by  ropes  and  hawsers. 


THE  ASSAULT  ON  QUEBEC       229 

Suddenly  from  the  direction  of  St.  John's  Gate  and 
Cape  Diamond  faint  reports  of  small  arms  smothered 
by  the  storm,  followed  by  thundering  detonations  of 
artillery,  broke  the  stillness,  and  a  few  moments  after 
wards  the  first  shot  from  a  sentry  on  the  walls  warned 
them  that  they  were  discovered.  It  was  followed  by 
another  and  another,  till  a  storm  of  bullets  from  the 
muskets  of  the  sailors  under  cover  of  the  pickets 
behind  the  Hotel  Dieu  and  Montcalm's  house  swept 
their  narrow  path.  Many  of  Arnold's  men  fell  under 
this  fire.  Fire  balls,  hurled  frequently  from  the  ram 
parts,  illuminated  the  spaces  of  open  road  between  the 
buildings,  across  which  the  Americans  had  to  rush, 
encumbered  as  they  were,  not  only  with  scaling  lad 
ders,  but  also  with  long  pikes  or  spontoons  for  the 
escalade  of  the  barrier.  At  every  disadvantage,  they 
could  neither  see  their  enemy  nor  tell  in  which  direc 
tion  to  return  the  fire,  except  as  they  might  guess 
from  the  flashes  of  flame  which  spurted  from  every 
loophole  in  the  towering  walls,  while  the  British,  not 
fifty  yards  distant,  secure  in  casemates  and  sheltered 
from  the  storm,  picked  them  off  as  they  ran  past. 

Beneath  the  pickets  behind  the  Hotel  Dieu,  a  mus 
ket  bullet  from  the  wall  shattered  Arnold's  leg  and 
stretched  him,  bleeding  profusely,  in  the  snow.  It 
had  been  his  intention  to  order  the  small  advance 
party  to  open  first  a  musketry  fire  on  the  barrier  and 
then,  while  Morgan  and  his  company  stole  around  the 
end  of  the  barrier  on  the  ice,  to  open  to  the  right 
and  left  and  permit  Captain  Lamb  to  bring  up  the 
field  piece  and  occupy  the  enemy's  attention  till  Mor- 


230        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

gan  had  time  to  take  them  by  surprise  in  the  rear. 
Arnold's  wound,  and  the  delay  in  bringing  up  the 
field  piece  owing  to  the  difficulties  of  the  road,  neces 
sitated  a  hurried  change  of  plan  at  a  critical  moment. 
In  a  short  and  hasty  consultation  it  was  agreed  that 
Morgan  should  assume  the  command,  though  Greene 
was  his  ranking  officer,  for  Morgan  had  seen  service, 
and  this  was  the  first  time  the  three  field  officers, 
Greene,  Bigelow  and  Meigs,  had  been  under  fire.  The 
Reverend  Mr.  Spring,*  a  fighting  parson,  with  a  sol 
dier  of  Morgan's  company,  supported  Arnold  on  the 
long  and  painful  journey  back  to  the  General  Hospi 
tal,  while  Morgan,  gathering  about  him  his  Virginians, 
and  backed  by  a  few  of  the  most  daring  officers  and 
men,  who  had  pressed  on  to  the  head  of  the  column, 
dashed  around  the  precipice  of  Sault  au  Matelot 
directly  upon  the  first  barrier. 

So  completely  had  the  British  been  taken  by  sur 
prise  in  this  quarter,  that  the  firing  to  the  north  of 
Sault  au  Matelot  deadened  by  storm,  had  just  aroused 
the  guard  of  about  thirty  Englishmen  under  Captain 
McCloud,f  nalf  drunk  with  healths  to  the  new  year. 
Accustomed  to  such  sounds  by  the  frequent  false 
alarms  of  the  past  two  weeks,  they  started  with  reluc 
tance  to  leave  their  comfortable  shelter  in  the  guard 
house,  to  join  the  solitary  sailor  who  was  on  guard 
near  the  two  twelve-pounders  on  a  platform  a  few 
yards  behind  the  barrier.  The  Americans,  led  by 
Morgan  with  a  Canadian  guide,  yelling  like  demons  of 

*  Henry'a  account  says  Spring  and  Ogden. 
t  McLeod,  of  the  Royal  Emigrants. 


From  original  in  the  possession  of  his  great-grand 
daughter,  Mrs.  William  Ranch,  New  York, 


THE  ASSAULT  ON  QUEBEC       231 

the  storm,  dashed  upon  the  barrier,  and  before  the 
guard  heard  the  sentry's  cry,  were  sweeping  over  it 
and  rushing  upon  the  platform  and  wharf  battery, 
which  was  flanked  by  houses  on  either  side.  Neither 
courage  nor  presence  of  mind  deserted  the  plucky 
sailor;  having  no  slow-match,  he  discharged  his  gun 
into  the  vent  of  one  of  the  cannon,  and  its  charge  of 
grape  burst  with  a  roar  in  the  very  face  of  the  Ameri 
cans.  It  killed  the  Canadian  guide,  but,  being  aimed 
too  high,  hurt  no  one  else.  In  an  instant  the  Ameri 
cans  had  their  ladders  against  the  barrier  which  im 
mediately  covered  the  two  guns. 

Morgan,  seeing  the  foremost  soldier  hesitate,  pulled 
him  down  and  springing  upon  the  ladder,  mounted 
first  of  all,  crying  in  terrific  tones,  * l  Follow  me,  boys ! '  * 
As  his  head  appeared  above  the  barrier,  the  whole 
guard  fired  at  him  from  within.  So  close  were  his 
enemies,  and  so  charmed  this  man's  life,  that  one 
ball  passed  through  his  cap,  another  grazed  the  left 
side  of  his  face,  cutting  off  a  lock  of  his  hair,  while 
fire  scorched  him  and  grains  of  powder  were  im 
bedded  in  his  face.  The  concussion  was  so  great  as 
to  knock  him  from  the  top  of  the  ladder  into  the 
snow  beneath.  For  a  moment  the  assailants  were 
checked.  But  the  gallant  frontiersman  was  instantly 
on  his  feet  again,  and  had  recommenced  ascending 
the  ladder.  A  wild  cheer  of  admiration  rose  from 
his  men  as  they  followed  his  example.  As  Morgan 
leaped  over  the  wall  he  landed  on  the  muzzle  of  one 
of  the  cannon,  falling  thence  on  the  platform  under 
the  gun.  Luckily  the  accident  saved  him  from  a 


232        ARNOLD'S   EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

dozen  bayonets  of  the  guard,  which  were  presented 
at  his  breast.  In  that  single  second  of  delay  the  en 
sign  of  his  company,  Charles  Porterfield,  Lieutenant 
Heth  and  others,  as  fast  as  there  was  room  to  jump 
down,  followed  and  saved  him.  Once  more  on  his 
feet,  though  severely  bruised  on  the  knee,  he  was  able 
to  direct  his  followers  to  fire  into  the  guard-house, 
from  the  windows  of  which  the  retreating  guard  were 
firing,  and  to  follow  up  with  pikes  and  bayonets. 
This  they  did  with  a  will,  killing  the  sailor  sentry  with 
their  pikes  before  he  could  reach  his  comrades,  and 
driving  the  guard  through  the  house  into  the  street. 

Morgan,  with  Captain  Thayer  and  others,  rushed 
on  through  a  sally  port  at  the  end  of  the  platform 
and  around  the  corner  of  the  house,  and  met  the  re 
treating  guard  as  they  fled  before  the  oncoming  pro 
vincials.  The  gigantic  rifleman,  shouting  to  them  to 
lay  down  their  arms  or  receive  no  quarter,  advanced 
upon  them  to  make  good  his  word.  The  guard  threw 
down  their  arms  and  surrendered.  Stopping  only  long 
enough  to  stack  their  wet  guns  and  exchange  them  for 
the  dry  and  better  arms  of  the  captured  guard,  Mor 
gan's  men,  with  bayonets  fixed,  poured  up  the  narrow 
street  of  Sault  au  Matelot,  taking  prisoner  everybody 
who  opposed  them.  But  they  had  not  advanced  more 
than  two  hundred  yards  before  they  perceived  another 
barrier  and  battery,  which  appeared  to  close  the  fur 
ther  end  of  the  street,  here  not  more  than  twenty  feet 
wide,  and  it  was  deemed  prudent  to  halt  and  await 
the  arrival  of  reinforcements  before  assaulting  it. 


THE  ASSAULT  ON  QUEBEC       233 

The  fighting  up  to  this  time  had  been  done  chiefly 
by  Morgan's  Virginians  and  fragments  of  some  of  the 
other  leading  companies.  While  they  waited,  Morgan, 
adopting  some  disguise  and  attended  only  by  an  in 
terpreter,  made  his  way,  according  to  his  own  account, 
almost  to  the  Upper  Town,  "to  see  what  was  going 
on."  He  returned  and  called  a  council  of  officers,  to 
whom  he  related  that  the  sal]}7  port  of  the  second  bar 
rier  was  standing  open,  that  its  guard  had  deserted  it, 
and  that  "people  were  running  from  the  Upper  Town 
in  whole  platoons,  giving  themselves  up  as  prisoners, 
to  get  out  of  the  way  of  the  confusion,"  and  that  he 
had  found  no  one  in  arms  to  oppose  them. 

But  the  Americans  had  already  more  prisoners  than 
they  knew  what  to  do  with.  Captain  Thayer  accounted 
them  to  be  nearly  one  hundred  and  fifty— almost  as 
numerous  as  their  captors,  whose  comrades,  having 
lost  their  way  in  the  crooked  streets,  were  coming  up 
very  slowly.  Furthermore,  Morgan's  orders  were  to 
await  Montgomery  here.  But  Montgomery  did  not 
come.  The  golden  moments  of  victory  were  flying. 
It  was  urged  that  if  they  advanced  further  they  would 
do  so  contrary  to  orders;  that  their  prisoners  might 
break  out  and  turn  the  battery  they  had  just  taken 
upon  them  and  cut  off  their  retreat;  that  Montgomery 
was  certainly  coming  down  the  St.  Lawrence  shore 
and  would  join  them  in  a  few  moments,  so  that  if 
they  acted  with  caution  and  prudence,  they  were  sure 
of  conquest.  To  this  reasoning  Morgan  reluctantly 
yielded  his  own  opinion,  and  it  was  agreed  to  remain 
where  they  were  until  Morgan  had  gone  back  over  the 


234        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

ground  they  had  covered,  to  bring  up  Bigelow  and 
Meigs  with  men  from  the  center  and  rear  to  guard  the 
captured  barrier,  and  augment  their  strength. 

After  Morgan  left  them,  his  men  sought  cover 
where  they  could  behind  the  houses,  in  them,  or  in 
the  doorways,  but  the  British  and  French  were  more 
familiar  with  the  ground,  and  often  gained  points 
from  which  they  picked  off  the  Americans  even  within 
the  houses.  Ensign  Porterfield  found  himself  in  a 
room  with  Lieutenants  Bruen  and  Cleek*  and  seven  or 
eight  men ;  two  of  his  companions  were  killed  outright 
beside  him.  Some  of  the  Americans  who  disdained 
any  sort  of  prudence,  and  were  near  enough  to  the 
enemy  to  reach  them  with  their  voices,  seized  this  lull 
to  challenge  them  from  the  open  street  to  come 
out  and  do  honest  battle.  But  the  enemy  discreetly 
clung  to  their  defenses.  Those  in  some  of  the  houses 
pointed  the  muzzles  of  their  firearms  from  the  win 
dows,  while  they  screened  themselves  entirely  behind 
the  window  frames,  and  fired  into  the  street  at  ran 
dom.  The  Americans,  jeering  and  laughing,  re 
sponded  as  blindly  by  emptying  their  rifles  in  at 
these  same  windows,  creeping  up  under  the  sills  for 
the  purpose.  As  no  one  dared  to  show  his  head 
above  the  barrier  at  the  end  of  the  street,  it  was  even 
possible  for  a  few  of  the  Americans,  by  a  quick  rush, 
to  get  so  close  to  it  that  the  British  could  not  dis 
lodge  them,  and  these  men  succeeded  by  discharging 
their  pieces  through  the  portholes  in  preventing  the 
service  of  some  of  the  guns  behind  the  barricade. 

*  I  cannot  identify  this  officer.      [Eo.] 


THE    ASSAULT    ON    QUEBEC  235 

Meanwhile  the  feints  of  Livingston  and  Brown 
along  the  wall  of  the  Upper  Town  had  not  been  wholly 
without  effect.  To  the  British,  the  city  had  seemed 
to  be  assailed  at  every  point,  the  noise  of  their  own 
guns  and  musketry  helping  to  produce  the  impres 
sion.  Other  quarters  had  been  reinforced;  this  of 
Sault  au  Matelot  had  been  neglected.  But  Living 
ston's  Canadians  only  too  well  acted  out  their  reputa 
tion  for  unreliability  and  cowardice,  and  as  soon  as 
the  firing  became  heavy,  took  to  their  heels  and  no 
longer  figured  in  the  conflict. 


CHAPTER   XV 
THE  DEATH  OF  MONTGOMERY 


UT  what  had  been  the  fortune  of  Mont 
gomery  's  attack  at  Pres  de  Ville  ?  What 
was  the  meaning  of  the  ominous  delay  in 
the  appearance  of  the  supporting  force 

which  was  to  have  completed  the  work  so 

well  begun  by  Morgan's  brave  fellows  at  the  northern 
end  of  the  town?  These  were  questions  which  must 
have  been  asked  with  ever-increasing  anxiety  by  the 
men  huddled  inactive  in  the  storm-beaten  streets  of 
Sault  au  Matelot,  as  they  saw  the  precious  moments 
slipping  fast  away,  and  still  had  no  tidings  from 
their  general,  who  should  by  this  time  have  been 
thundering  at  the  gates  of  the  Upper  Town. 

Montgomery  had  found  much  the  same  obstacles 
in  his  way  along  the  St.  Lawrence  that  Arnold  had 
on  the  St.  Charles.  The  ice  forced  up  by  the  high 
winter  tides,  and  the  immense  snow-drifts  (for  the 
snow  on  a  level  was  from  four  to  six  feet  deep), 
would  have  impeded  his  troops  even  in  the  strong 
light  of  day;  now,  in  the  darkness  and  the  storm, 
they  were  efficient  allies  of  the  British.  The  column, 
consisting  of  the  1st,  2d  and  3d  battalions  of  New 
York  troops,  was  so  broken  and  delayed  that  Mont 
gomery  and  his  Canadian  guide,  marching  at  the 

236 


THE    DEATH    OF   MONTGOMERY  237 

head  of  a  straggling  line  for  a  mile  and  a  half  or 
two  miles  from  Wolfe's  Cove,  along  the  narrow  path 
way  under  the  cliffs,  close  to  the  riverside,  did  not 
reach  the  first  palisade  at  Pres  de  Ville  till  some  time 
after  Livingston  and  Brown  had  aroused  the  garrison 
of  the  Upper  Town. 

The  guard  at  Pres  de  Ville,  which  was  under  Cap 
tain  Chabot  of  the  French-Canadian  artillery  and 
consisted  of  thirty  Canadians  and  eight  British  militia 
men,  with  nine  British  seamen  to  work  the  guns,  had 
seen  the  flashlights  on  the  Plains  of  Abraham.  Every 
man  was  posted  before  the  alarm  was  given,  and  the 
sailor  cannoneers  commanded  by  Captain  Barnsfare, 
master  of  the  transport  Tell,  and  directed  by  Hugh 
McQuarters,  a  trusty  sergeant  of  the  Eoyal  Artillery, 
with  lighted  matches,  stood  waiting  for  the  word  of 
command.  The  good  fortune  of  Arnold's  men  who 
had  been  able  to  take  by  surprise  the  unready  guard 
at  the  Sault  au  Matelot,  was  thus  denied  to  the  com- 
mander-in-chief. 

At  length  some  two  hundred  men — two-thirds  of 
his  force— had  come  up,  and  Montgomery,  cautiously 
approaching  the  palisade,  superintended  a  party  of 
carpenters,  who  succeeded  without  discovery  in  sawing 
out  four  of  the  great  wooden  pickets  of  which  the 
palisade  was  built.  At  the  point  where  this  was  done, 
they  were  close  to  the  precipice,  the  angle  of  which 
screened  them  from  the  view  of  any  sentinel  in  the 
blockhouse  on  the  other  side  of  the  angle,  about  one 
hundred  and  thirty  paces  from  the  first  palisade. 


238        ARNOLD'S   EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

They  were  also  concealed  in  part  by  the  second  pali 
sade,  some  twenty  paces  within  the  first,  which,  it  will 
be  remembered,  ran  nearly  parallel  with  it,  but  not 
so  high  up  the  precipice,  which  was  so  steep  here  as 
to  be  practically  impassable  in  itself. 

Much  encouraged,  moving  noiselessly  in  the  new- 
fallen  snow,  the  carpenters  reached  the  second  pali 
sade,  where  they  were  soon  again  at  their  dangerous 
work,  well  up  on  the  precipice.  Montgomery,  joined 
now  by  his  aids  John  Macpherson  and  Aaron  Burr, 
nervously  watched  the  workmen  until  they  had  two 
or  three  of  the  pickets  down.  Then  the  group  of 
officers  quickly  slipped  through  the  opening  and  stood 
for  a  moment  in  consultation  under  the  last  sheltering 
point  of  the  rocky  cliff,  to  turn  which  was  almost  cer 
tain  death. 

The  Canadian  guide,  Edward  Antill  the  engineer, 
and  Montgomery's  orderly  sergeant  also  passed  through 
the  opening,  as  did  Captain  Jacob  Cheeseman,  followed 
by  some  of  the  leading  men  of  his  and  Mott's  com 
panies,  while  the  other  troops  were  crowding  up  in  the 
narrow  pass.  Impatient  at  the  slowness  of  the  work, 
Montgomery  laid  hands  on  the  pickets  himself,  while 
one  of  the  party  slipped  around  the  point  of  rock 
to  discover,  if  he  could,  what  reception  they  might 
expect.  The  explorer  returned  at  once  and  doubtless 
reported  that  the  post  seemed  alarmed;  for  immedi 
ately  Montgomery,  with  the  shout,  "Push  on,  brave 
boys;  Quebec  is  ours!"  sprang  forward,  closely  fol 
lowed  by  his  staff  and  as  many  men  as  could  crowd 


From  the  Dreer  Collection,  Historical  Society  oj 
Pennsylvania. 


THE    DEATH    OF   MONTGOMERY  239 

through  the  narrow  opening  which  the  carpenters  had 
made.  On  the  instant  a  storm  of  canister  and  grape 
from  Barnsf are's  cannon  swept  the  narrow  pass,  and 
as  fast  as  the  sailors  could  withdraw  and  recharge, 
the  murderous  hail  pelted  the  precipice,  the  palisade 
and  the  cart-road  below. 

Montgomery,  shot  through  the  head  and  both 
thighs,  Cheeseman,  Macpherson,  the  orderly  sergeant, 
Desmarais  the  Canadian  guide,  and  eight  other  brave 
fellows  lay  dead  and  dying,  and  the  long  column  of 
Americans,  like  a  snake  whose  head  has  been  sud 
denly  crushed,  recoiled  on  itself,  writhing  in  a  panic 
of  dismay  and  confusion.  For  a  few  moments  the 
stripling  Burr*  struggled  to  animate  the  troops,  already 
turned  in  flight,  but  Lieutenant-Colonel  Campbell, 
commanding  their  rear,  unequal  to  the  emergency, 
hastily  gave  the  command  to  retire,  an  order  all  too 
readily  obeyed  by  his  demoralized  men,  who  carried 
with  them  some,  though  not  all,  of  the  wounded. 

*  Burr's  latest  biographer,  Mr.  H.  C.  Merwin,  says :  "Burr,  though  of 
slight  physique,  carried  the  body  of  Montgomery,  a  tall  man,  for  some 
distance,  but  found  its  weight  too  much  for  him.  The  act  was  wit 
nessed  by  Chaplain  Spring,  who  never  met  Burr  again  until  fifty  years 
had  passed,  when  hearing  he  was  in  New  York  he  called  on  him  although 
warned  by  his  son  (the  late  Dr.  Gardiner  Spring,  of  the  Brick  Presby 
terian  Church,  N.  Y.)  that  he  would  lose  caste  by  calling  on  Burr. 
He  replied  to  the  warning  that  the  image  of  '  Little  Burr '  staggering 
through  the  snow  under  the  weight  of  Montgomery's  body  was  too 
vivid  in  his  mind  for  him  to  follow  the  politic  advice." 

The  story  is  a  very  interesting  one,  and  like  Mercutio's  quarrel  we 
shall  only  spoil  it  by  trying  to  explain  it, — but  if  Mr.  Spring  was,  as 
other  accounts  agree,  helping  Arnold  off  the  field,  how  could  he  have 
been  with  Montgomery's  column  at  the  same  time? 


240        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

Many  of  the  Canadian  and  British  guards  and  can 
noneers  were  seized  with  a  like  panic,  and,  deserting 
their  posts,  fled  to  the  center  of  the  town.  Finding 
they  were  not  pursued,  they  soon  recovered,  manned 
their  guns  again  and  with  those  who  had  stood  fast, 
continued  to  sweep  the  pass  with  grape  and  canister 
for  some  minutes  after  the  Americans  had  retreated. 
When  they  ceased  firing  they  could  plainly  hear  the 
groans  and  cries  of  the  poor  fellows  who  had  fallen, 
but  no  other  sounds  except  the  dismal  howling  of  the 
storm;  as  they  peered  through  the  black  night,  they 
saw  nothing  save  the  driving  snow  and  sleet,  fast 
weaving  a  funeral  shroud  for  the  heroic  dead.  Even 
the  outcries  of  the  wounded  soon  ceased,  and  confident 
that  they  had  repulsed  the  rebels,  they  were  cheering 
lustily,  when  an  old  woman  appeared  among  them, 
breathless,  with  the  news  that  Arnold  had  taken  the 
barrier  at  Sault  au  Matelot,  and  would  immediately 
attack  their  rear.  Panic  prevailed  once  more.  Some 
hid  their  weapons;  others  hurled  them  into  the  river. 
Then  John  Coffin,*  a  loyalist  volunteer,  who  with  his 
family  had  sought  the  town  as  a  refuge,  drew  his 
bayonet,  sprang  into  the  midst  of  the  faint-hearted,  and 
swore  he  would  kill  the  first  man  who  turned  his 
back.  His  courage  and  Barnsf are's  coolness  pre 
vailed;  the  cowards  returned  to  duty,  and  those  who 
were  steadfast  swung  the  guns  about  and  waited. 

News  of  the  disaster  at  Pres  de  Ville  did  not  reach 
Morgan's  and  Arnold's  men;  indeed,  they  received  no 

*  John  Coffin  was  a  Massachusetts  Tory  who  had  been  banished  and 
his  property  confiscated  in  1774. 


THE    DEATH    OF   MONTGOMERY  241 

tidings  whatever  of  Montgomery.  When  Morgan 
reached  the  outskirts  of  the  Lower  Town,  he  found 
Colonel  Greene  and  Major  Meigs  with  about  two  hun 
dred  of  the  New  England  troops,  who  immediately 
pushed  forward  under  his  guidance  to  the  first  bar 
rier,  where  they  made  prisoners  of  a  number  of  young 
fellows,  students  it  is  said,  who  were  but  now  hurry 
ing  to  their  alarm  posts  at  Sault  au  Matelot  street. 
The  reinforcements  were  hurried  forward  to  where 
their  comrades  still  waited  under  the  shadow  of  the 
second  barrier,  and  it  was  determined  in  spite  of 
Montgomery's  disquieting  delay  to  advance  at  once 
upon  this  barricade,  which  closed  the  entrance  to 
Mountain  street  and  therefore  barred  the  way  to  the 
Upper  Town.  It  is  hard  to  see  why  Morgan  had  not 
ordered  this  movement  long  before,  since  by  his  own 
statement  the  sally  port  stood  open  when  the  Ameri 
cans  first  appeared  before  it.  It  is  a  poor  answer  to 
say  that  he  had  reached  the  position  where  he  was 
ordered  to  wait  for  Montgomery,  and  that  to  have 
continued  to  advance  was  to  disobey  orders.  Never 
was  obedience  or  blunder,  whichever  it  is  to  be  called, 
more  fatal,  for  the  British  having  established  the  true 
character  of  the  attacks  of  Livingston  and  Brown 
upon  the  Upper  Town,  and  having  repulsed  Mont 
gomery,  were  free  to  deal  with  their  more  successful 
antagonists  at  Sault  au  Matelot. 

The  Americans   hurriedly  formed  in  the  narrow 
street  and,  led  once  more  by  Morgan,  rushed  cheer 
ing  upon  the  barrier;  but  now  they  found  it  occupied, 
and  its  defenders,  who  were  chiefly  Canadian  militia 
22 


242        ARNOLD'S   EXPEDITION   TO    QUEBEC 

under  Colonel  Voyer  and  Captain  Alexandre  Dumas, 
checked  them  with  a  heavy  fire  from  the  houses  on 
either  side  of  the  barrier  and  with  cannon  elevated 
beyond  the  barrier  in  the  second  story  of  a  house  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  lower  end  of  Mountain  street. 
Every  bullet  falling  in  the  crowded  ranks  confined  in 
so  narrow  a  space  (for  here  Sault  au  Matelot  street 
was  only  about  twenty  feet  wide)  did  execution,  and 
the  Americans  failed  to  get  their  ladders  up  before 
the  Canadians  were  further  reinforced  by  Captain 
Maroux  and  a  few  Eoyal  Fusileers  under  Captain 
Owen. 

Captain  Anderson,  a  retired  lieutenant  of  the 
Eoyal  Navy,  sallying  from  the  barrier,  as  the  pro 
vincials  fell  back,  met  Morgan  in  the  street  again 
advancing  and  summoned  him  to  surrender.  The 
fierce  Virginian,  furious  at  his  repulse,  and  raging 
like  a  lion  that  has  tasted  blood,  seized  a  rifle  from 
one  of  his  men  and  shot  Anderson  through  the  head. 
The  unfortunate  officer's  men  stood  only  long  enough 
to  drag  his  body  within  the  barrier  and  close  the 
sally  port,  and  a  general  melee  and  assault  on  the 
barrier  began. 

But  the  Americans  were  again  handicapped;  the 
ladders  they  had  were  those  brought  by  Morgan's 
men  and  were  too  few  in  number  to  enable  many  to 
scale  the  barrier  at  once.  Further,  while  they  had 
stood  inactive  in  the  storm,  the  arms  taken  from 
McLeod's  guard  had,  in  turn,  been  wet  by  the  melt 
ing  snow  and  were  useless,  except  as  clubs.  Lieu- 


THE    DEATH    OF   MONTGOMERY  243 

tenant  Humphries*  and  a  few  men  succeeded  in  erect 
ing  a  mound,  planted  a  few  ladders,  and  with  Morgan, 
Hendricks,  Steele,  Heth,  Porterfield,  Cooper,  Thomas, 
Thayer  and  Topham  made  a  desperate  attempt  to 
scale  the  barrier.  But  Humphries  fell  back  dead, 
shot  through  the  head  and  body,  and  a  score  of  men 
went  down  with  him.  Lieutenant  Cooperf  of  Connec 
ticut  was  also  killed  outright. 

The  British  had  now  manned  the  guns  on  an 
elevated  platform  behind  the  barrier,  and  a  single 
cannon  in  a  house  on  the  side  of  the  street,  and 
delivered  a  front  and  enfilading  fire  of  grape.  Noth 
ing  human  could  stand  beneath  it  and  the  constant 
rain  of  musket  bullets.  Lieutenant  Joseph  Thomas 
was  killed,  two  fingers  of  Lieutenant  Steele 's  hand 
were  shot  away,  Captain  Lamb  of  the  artillery,  who 
long  ago  had  been  ordered  to  abandon  his  field  piece 
on  account  of  the  impassability  of  the  road,  had  the 
left  side  of  his  face  carried  away  by  a  grape-shot. 
He  requested  Lieutenant  Nichols  £  to  bind  up  the 
wound  with  a  black  handkerchief  which  he  took 
from  his  stock,  and  attempted  to  continue  in  action. 
The  chief  Sabattis  was  shot  through  the  wrist;  Bri 
gade-Major  Ogden  in  the  shoulder;  Captain  Topham, 
Lieutenant  Tisdale§  and  Commissary  Taylor  were  also 
wounded.  Captain  Hubbard  had  been  crippled  by 

*  John  Humphries,  first  lieutenant  of  Morgan's. 
f  Samuel  Cooper,  Second  Connecticut. 

J  Francis  Nichols  was  second  lieutenant  in  the  Pennsylvania  Rifle 
men,  and  became  Brigadier  in  the  militia  of  his  State. 

$  Benjamin  Tisdale,  afterward  captain  in  the  Third  Massachusetts. 


244        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

a  shot  which  broke  his  ankle,  but  he  refused  to  be 
moved  under  cover,  exclaiming  to  his  would-be 
bearers,  "I  came  here  to  serve  with  you;  I  will  stay 
here  to  die  with  you!"  Lamb  lay  unconscious  in  the 
open  street. 

The  volleys  of  musketry  from  the  second  barrier 
in  their  front  and  from  the  high  bank  and  wall  close 
on  their  left,  with  the  cross-fire  from  a  company  of 
French  loyalists  on  Lymburner's  wharf,  rendered  the 
position  of  the  Americans  a  fearful  one.  The  battle- 
scythe  of  death  steadily  swept  the  street  from  side 
to  side.  The  blood-stained  snow,  trodden  by  the 
hurrying  tramp  of  many  feet;  the  corpses  piled  in 
heaps  beneath  the  barrier;  the  cries  of  the  combat 
ants  and  the  groans  and  screams  of  the  wounded  as 
they  struggled  from  the  deep  snow-drifts,  and  en 
deavored  to  crawl  to  the  doorways  for  shelter;  the 
crashing  of  broken  glass  which  followed  every  heavy 
detonation  of  artillery  or  announced  the  passage  of 
those  bullets  which  sought  their  living  targets  within 
the  houses;  over  all  the  lowered  canopy  of  heaven, 
the  howling  of  the  storm,  and  driving  snow,  made  a 
sickening  scene  of  horror  and  confusion. 

The  assailants  were  at  last  compelled  to  seek  shel 
ter  in  the  stone  houses  on  either  side  of  the  street, 
but  it  was  not  until  nearly  four  score  of  their  number 
lay  dead  or  desperately  wounded  along  a  few  hundred 
yards  of  Sault  au  Matelot  street,  after  it  turns  the 
precipice  towards  the  center  of  the  town.  It  was  now 
the  turn  of  the  British  to  suffer,  for  the  Americans 


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THE    DEATH    OF    MONTGOMERY  245 

had  an  opportunity  to  dry  and  reprime  their  firelocks ; 
and,  all  being  sharpshooters,  they  repeatedly  cleared 
the  platform  of  gunners,  till  its  guns  were  all  silenced 
and  fifteen  or  twenty  of  their  enemies  had  felt  their 
vengeance.  But  their  fire  from  the  windows  was  re 
turned  with  interest,  for  reinforcements  under  Major 
Caldwell  now  reached  the  British,  who  used  the  loop 
holes  of  the  barrier  and  the  houses  on  their  side  of  it 
for  cover.  Nor  were  the  British  bad  marksmen.  Cap 
tain  Hendricks,  while  aiming  his  rifle  from  a  window, 
was  shot  through  the  heart,  and  staggering  back  a 
few  steps  he  fell  dead  across  a  bed. 

At  this  moment,  while  the  firing  was  slackened  be 
cause  both  sides  were  sheltered  in  comparative  safety 
behind  walls  of  wood  or  stone,  a  Canadian  militiaman, 
one  Charland,  an  ex-convict,  a  huge  fellow  of  great 
strength  and  dauntless  courage,  was  seen  to  spring 
upon  the  barrier.  In  the  face  of  a  storm  of  bullets, 
he  succeeded  in  dragging  within  the  palisade  one  of 
the  precious  scaling  ladders,  which  was  still  attached 
to  the  barrier.  The  British  saw  their  advantage. 
Ensign  Dambourges  and  Major  Nairn,*  availing  them 
selves  of  the  ladder  obtained  by  Charland,  and  fol 
lowed  by  Captain  Campbell,  Ensign  Cairns  and  Lieu 
tenant  Layard,  climbed  through  a  window  in  the 
gable  end  of  a  house  on  the  rebel  side  of  the  barrier. 
A  hand-to-hand  struggle  ensued  to  the  advantage  of 
the  British,  who  drove  back  their  opponents  as  they 
were  about  to  enter  the  door  on  Sault  au  Matelot 

*  John  Nairne. 


246        ARNOLD'S   EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

street,  and  gained  a  commanding  position  from  which 
to  fire  into  the  street. 

Morgan,  with  a  few  of  the  bravest  of  the  brave, 
standing  in  the  open  street,  had  called  again  and 
again  upon  those  within  the  houses  to  join  him  and 
to  make  another  attempt  on  the  barrier,  while  the 
guns  of  the  platform  were  silent.  But  it  was  useless. 
So,  ordering  the  few  officers  he  had  left  to  the  shelter 
of  the  houses,  he  made  his  way  to  the  first  barrier, 
accompanied  only  by  Lieutenant  Heth,  in  order  to 
concert  with  Meigs  and  Bigelow  some  plan  for  draw 
ing  off  the  troops.  These  officers  agreed  with  him 
that  they  must  immediately  retreat.  Lieutenant  Heth 
was  accordingly  sent  back  on  the  dangerous  errand 
of  urging  the  men  in  the  houses  to  abandon  their 
shelter  and  risk  death  in  the  open  in  an  attempt  to 
reach  the  first  barrier.  Heth  bravely  executed  his 
orders,  but  succeeded  in  inducing  very  few  of  the 
men  to  take  their  chances  with  him.  While  they 
wasted  precious  moments  in  indecision,  their  oppor 
tunity  was  lost. 

We  must  now  ask  the  reader  to  return  with  us  to 
Dearborn's  company,  which,  it  will  be  remembered, 
was  cantoned  on  the  further  side  of  the  St.  Charles, 
and  had  failed  to  join  Arnold's  detachment  in  time 
to  take  part  in  the  assault.  It  appears  that  the 
sergeant-major,  whose  duty  it  was  to  notify  Captain 
Dearborn  of  the  hour  of  attack,  had  been  pre 
vented  from  crossing  the  river  by  the  exceedingly 
high  tide.  At  four  o'clock  Dearborn  heard  by 


LIEUTENANT    WILLIAM    HETH. 

(AFTERWARD  COLONEL  THIRD  VIRGINIA  REGIMENT.) 

From  miniature  in  possession  of  Mr.  R.  H.  M. 

Harrison,  Richmond,   Va. 


THE    DEATH    OF   MONTGOMERY  247 

chance,  through  one  of  his  men,  that  the  attack  had 
been  ordered  for  that  morning.  He  at  once  gave 
orders  for  his  men  to  prepare  to  march,  but  as  his 
company  was  quartered  in  three  different  houses  and 
the  farthest  was  a  mile  from  his  own  quarters,  it 
was  nearly  an  hour  before  he  was  ready,  and  the 
cannonade  announced  that  the  attack  was  begun 
before  he  started. 

They  had  nearly  two  miles  to  march.  On  the  way 
they  met  the  sergeant-major,  who  informed  them  that 
Arnold's  column  had  moved  on.  Crossing  the  St. 
Charles  and  advancing  at  double-quick  time,  they  met 
Arnold,  wounded,  in  St.  Eoque;  he  told  them  that  his 
men  had  possession  of  a  four-gun  battery  and  would 
soon  carry  the  town.  The  battery  of  St.  Boque  was 
playing  incessantly,  the  garrison  replying  with  shot 
and  shell  from  apparently  every  part  of  the  town. 
Dearborn's  men  were  in  high  spirits  and  pushed  for 
ward  as  fast  as  possible.  They  soon  began  to  meet 
numbers  of  wounded  men,  and  almost  immediately 
came  under  a  very  brisk  fire  from  the  walls  and  stock 
ades.  In  the  heavy  storm  and  darkness,  without  a 
leader  or  guide  who  was  in  the  least  familiar  with  the 
locality,  the  men  were  soon  bewildered,  and  although 
they  met  several  officers  and  men  who  said  they  knew 
where  the  division  was, .yet  none  of  them  would  act 
as  guides.  Dearborn  accordingly  thought  it  best  to 
retreat  a  short  distance  and  make  a  new  attempt  to 
find  the  way.  He  accordingly  ordered  Lieutenant 
Hutchins,*  who  was  in  the  rear,  to  retire  a  few  rods. 

*  Nathaniel   Hutchins,   afterwards   Captain   First   New   Hampshire. 


Hutchins  obeyed,  although  in  retreating  he  ran  con 
siderable  risk  from  the  fire  of  a  picket  within  a  stone 's 
throw,  for  it  had  now  begun  to  grow  light. 

Carleton,  advised  of  the  perilous  predicament  of 
Dearborn's  company,  and  bent  on  preventing  their  re 
inforcement  of  Morgan,  ordered  a  sally  of  a  column  of 
men  under  Captain  Laws,  *  who  immediately  advanced 
with  two  field  pieces  from  Palace  gate.  Captain  Mc- 
Dougal  of  the  Eoyal  Emigrants  followed  closely  with 
a  party  from  his  regiment;  then  Captain  Alexander 
Fraser  with  another  supporting  party.  Captain  Hamil 
ton,  of  the  Lizard,  and  a  party  of  sailors,  brought  up 
the  rear.  The  column  was  two  hundred  strong.  Be 
fore  Dearborn's  men  discovered  this  movement,  the 
sallying  party  had  taken  possession  of  some  houses 
which  Hutchins  had  to  pass,  and  as  he  fell  back, 
rushed  down  upon  his  little  party  from  a  lane.  On 
perceiving  their  approach,  Dearborn  divided  his  com 
pany  in  the  middle  and  leaving  half  under  the  com 
mand  of  Lieutenant  Hutchins,  made  another  attempt 
to  find  the  main  body,  for  it  was  now  so  light  that 
he  thought  he  stood  a  better  chance  of  doing  so. 
Ordering  those  who  were  with  him  to  follow,  he  ran 
on,  but  the  enemy  captured  some  of  his  men  in  the 
rear  and  opened  a  brisk  fire  upon  the  rest  from  the 
houses  which  they  had  to  pass.  As  soon  as  Dearborn 
reached  a  place  where  he  could  cover  his  men,  he 
halted  them  while  he  attempted  to  establish  the  posi 
tion  of  the  main  body,  for  a  shout  was  heard  in  the 

*  By  British  authorities  spelled  Lawes.      He  was  of  the  Engineers. 


THE    DEATH    OF   MONTGOMERY  249 

town  wMch  convinced  him  that  the  Americans  were 
in  possession. 

The  fact  that  the  besieged  and  their  assailants 
wore  substantially  the  same  uniform  now  worked  to 
the  disadvantage  of  the  Americans.  In  the  uncertain 
light  Dearborn  could  not  feel  sure  whether  the  men 
in  front  of  him,  who  seemed  to  be  numerous,  were 
British  or  Americans.  His  own  words  at  this  juncture 
are  too  graphic  to  omit:  "I  was  just  about  to  hail 
them,  when  one  of  them  hailed  me.  He  asked  who  I 
was  (I  was  now  within  a  few  rods).  I  answered,  'a 
friend.'  He  asked  me  'who  I  was  a  friend  to.'  I 
answered,  'a,  friend  to  liberty.'  He  then  replied,  'G— 
d—  you,'  and  raised  himself  partly  above  the  picket. 
I  clapt  up  my  piece,  which  was  charged  with  a  ball 
and  ten  buckshot,  certainly  to  give  him  his  due,  but 
to  my  mortification  my  gun  did  not  go  off;  I  new- 
primed  her  and  flushed  and  fired  her  again,  but 
neither  I,  nor  one  in  ten  of  my  men,  could  get  off 
their  guns,  they  being  so  exceedingly  wet." 

Dearborn  ordered  his  men  into  the  houses  to  new- 
prime  their  guns  or  prick  dry  powder  into  the  touch- 
holes;  but  the  enemy  closed  in  upon  them  and  Dear 
born  soon  found  himself  outnumbered  six  to  one,  his 
company  divided  and  his  arms  in  bad  condition,  so 
that,  being  promised  good  quarters  and  tender  usage, 
he  surrendered.  But  before  doing  so  he  told  his  men 
to  make  their  escape  if  possible.  In  the  confusion 
some  of  them  succeeded,  several  even  after  they  had 
given  up  their  arms.  At  the  same  time  one  division 

23 


250        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION   TO    QUEBEC 

of  the  sallying  party  pounced  upon  the  battery  in  St. 
Boque  and  completed  the  discomfiture  of  the  provin 
cials  by  capturing  all  the  guns  and  dragging  them 
victoriously  into  Quebec. 

The  main  body  of  Captain  Laws's  force,  however, 
after  having  captured  Dearborn's  company,  closed  in 
on  the  rear  of  the  Americans  under  Morgan.  It  was 
now  long  past  six  o'clock  and  the  morning  light  was 
breaking,  though  the  fast-falling  snow  obscured  its 
disclosures.  Morgan  and  his  few  remaining  officers, 
ignorant  even  of  this  misfortune,  now  held  another 
consultation,  and  Morgan  advised  that  they  cut  their 
way  out,  but  this  proposition  was  overruled,  in  the 
hope  that  Montgomery  might  still  be  heard  from  and 
for  fear  that  he  might  need  their  cooperation.  They 
resolved  to  maintain  their  position  at  the  first  barrier 
a  short  time  longer.  Their  comrades  in  the  houses 
along  Sault  au  Matelot  street  were  still  keeping  up  a 
desultory  fire,  which  was  answered  by  the  British  in 
much  the  same  manner,  but  it  was  very  evident  that 
the  end  was  near. 

At  this  moment  Captain  Laws,  whose  zeal  had 
carried  him  far  beyond  his  men,  sprang  into  the 
midst  of  the  American  officers,  and  demanded  their 
surrender,  upon  which  they  promptly  disarmed 
him,  much  to  his  chagrin.  But  his  men,  headed  by 
McDougal,  soon  appeared,  and  at  length  the  whole 
disposable  force  of  the  garrison  surrounded  the  Amer 
icans.  The  cannon  of  the  sallying  party,  brought  up 
through  St.  Charles  to  Sault  au  Matelot  street  in  the 


251 

rear,  threatened  the  houses  they  occupied,  and  upon 
being  summoned,  the  disappointed  and  exhausted 
Americans,  except  a  few  of  their  number,  who  in 
company  with  most  of  the  Indians  had  hazarded  an 
escape  across  the  ice  on  the  Bay  of  St.  Charles,  sur 
rendered.  The  French  and  English  soldiery  then 
rushed  in  among  them  for  the  prize  of  the  officers' 
side-arms.  Some  of  the  Americans  threw  down  their 
arms  from  the  doors  and  windows  of  the  houses  they 
occupied,  others  presented  the  butts  of  their  muskets, 
while  a  few  hid  themselves  in  attics  and  cellars. 

Morgan,  crying  like  a  child  with  vexation  and 
anger,  backed  against  a  wall  and,  sword  in  hand, 
dared  any  one  of  the  enemy  to  come  and  take  the 
weapon.  In  spite  of  the  threats  of  his  enemies  and 
the  entreaties  of  his  own  men  not  to  sacrifice  his  life 
uselessly,  he  persisted  in  his  determination.  None 
took  up  his  gage.  At  length,  noticing  a  priest 
among  the  crowd,  he  delivered  his  sword  to  him, 
saying,  "Then  I  give  my  sword  to  you;  but  not  a 
scoundrel  of  these  cowards  shall  take  it  out  of  my 
hands ! ' ' 

The  prisoners  were  conducted  to  the  Upper  Town, 
where  the  officers,  after  a  good  meal,  with  wine,  at 
the  main  guard-house,  were  confined  in  the  Seminary 
of  Laval,  and  the  non-commissioned  officers  and 
privates  in  the  Jesuits  College  (The  Eecollets). 
They  now  first  learned  of  the  repulse  of  their  second 
column  at  Pres  de  Ville  and  the  complete  discom 
fiture  of  their  comrades,  though  the  British  them- 


252        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

selves  were  still  ignorant  that  Montgomery  was  among 
the  killed. 

A  scouting  party  of  militia  sent  out  shortly  after 
daylight  over  the  ground  near  the  palisades  at  Cape 
Diamond  had  at  first  seen  nothing,  owing  to  the 
deep  snow,  for  it  had  fallen  all  night.  At  length 
they  noticed  a  stiffened  arm  protruding,  and  pushing 
away  the  snow  they  found  a  frozen  corpse,  then  an 
other,  and  another.  Shuddering  women  who  had 
been  driven  from  their  beds  by  the  volleys  from 
Barnsf  are's  cannon,  which  shattered  their  windows,  to 
take  refuge  in  the  cellars  of  their  houses,  and  whose 
morbid  curiosity  had  incited  them  forth  to  follow  the 
soldiers,  watched  while  a  number  of  sleighs  were 
laden  with  bodies  and  driven  away  into  the  town. 
There  were  thirteen  killed  here;  one  man,  the  orderly 
sergeant,  still  feebly  breathed  and  was  conscious. 
He  was  asked  where  Montgomery  was.  He  replied 
he  had  not  seen  him  for  some  time,  and  dying  within 
an  hour,  gave  no  other  answer. 

After  the  bodies  were  brought  into  the  town,  Carle- 
ton  asked  if  one  of  the  American  officers  taken 
prisoner  at  Sault  au  Matelot  would  identify  a  body 
said  to  be  that  of  Montgomery.  A  field  officer  con 
sented,  and  soon  returned  with  the  sad  truth.  The 
General  had  been  found  lying  on  his  back,  about 
two  paces  from  the  river,  his  arms  extended  and  his 
knees  drawn  up  as  if  in  agony,  though  "his  counte 
nance  appeared  regular,  serene  and  placid,  like  the 
soul  that  late  had  animated  it. ' '  Close  to  Montgomery, 
on  his  right  and  left,  lay  Macpherson  and  Cheeseman. 


253 

Two  other  bodies  were  very  near  them.  Carleton, 
with  commendable  humanity,  also  sent  out  other 
search  parties  for  the  wounded  in  the  direction  of 
Sault  au  Matelot  and  St.  Roque.  Captains  Lamb 
and  Hubbard  were  rescued  with  many  others,  and 
carried  to  the  hospital. 

The  causes  for  the  failure  of  this  desperate  assault 
upon  Quebec  have  generally  been  summed  up  in  the 
sweeping  statement  that  it  was  so  foolhardy  that  it 
never  merited  success,  but  we  think  those  who  have 
so  characterized  it  have  labored  under  a  misappre 
hension  of  Montgomery's  real  purpose,  that  they 
have  altogether  lost  sight  of  his  alternatives  (which 
we  have  already  sufficiently  brought  in  contrast),  and 
have  failed  to  weigh  many  circumstances  and  con 
siderations  which  recent  research  has  brought  into 
prominence. 

In  the  first  place,  it  seems  impossible  that  Mont 
gomery  could  have  had  any  intention  or  expectation 
of  gaining  the  Upper  Town  by  direct  assault,  except 
by  the  aid  of  the  stratagems  already  referred  to;  he 
knew  too  well  from  careful  inspection  of  the  works 
from  without,  and  from  deserters  and  friends  within 
the  walls,  how  impregnable  they  were  against  so 
small  a  force  as  his  at  that  season  of  the  year.  That 
Montgomery  should  have  kept  his  opinions  and  his 
plans  to  himself  was  assuredly  to  be  expected,  for  he 
must  have  been  aware  of  the  speed  and  certainty  with 
which  every  move  of  his  was  reported  within  the  city, 
and  he  knew  that  any  information  that  his  attack  was 
to  be  directed  against  the  Lower  Town  only  would 


254        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION   TO    QUEBEC 

cause  the  enemy  to  reinforce  heavily  the  narrow  pas 
sages  at  Pres  de  Ville  and  Sault  an  Matelot.  He  did 
not  wish  to  dampen  the  ardor  of  his  troops  by  sug 
gesting  any  doubt  that  their  conquest  was  to  be  com 
plete,  or  that  they  might  expect  to  spend  the  remain 
der  of  the  winter  less  comfortably  quartered  than  in 
the  Upper  Town,  or  with  their  families  at  home.  The 
desperate  occasion  demanded  every  stimulant.  If  this 
explanation  of  his  purposes  is  the  correct  one,  the 
criticisms  of  General  Cullum  and  other  American  mili 
tary  officers,  who  have  based  their  conclusions  on  the 
assumption  that  Montgomery's  ambition  was  to  take 
both  the  Upper  and  Lower  Towns  by  assault  that 
night,  are  beside  the  question.  General  Carrington, 
another  American  officer  who  has  enjoyed  some  repu 
tation  as  a  military  critic  of  the  battles  of  the  Revo 
lution,  should  not  be  accorded  too  much  confidence. 
He  states  that  Arnold's  detachment  embarked  from 
Newport— a  palpable  error  which  we  might  properly 
lay  to  the  printer  or  proofreader,  did  he  not  add  that 
they  reached  that  place  via  Bedford.  Charging  this 
also  to  the  printer  or  proofreader,  we  read  later  that 
Arnold  crossed  the  St.  Lawrence  with  nearly  twice 
as  many  men  as  any  fair  search  of  authorities  reveals. 
Mistakes  like  these  shake  our  confidence  in  the  au 
thor's  conclusions.  It  seems  certain  that  a  narrative 
manifestly  faulty  in  such  matters  of  record  (for  these 
are  not  the  only  mistakes  to  which  we  might  call  at 
tention)  cannot  afford  secure  premises  from  which  to 
argue,  either  with  the  technical  knowledge  of  a  mili 
tary  man  or  the  common  sense  of  a  civilian.  Perhaps 
the  only  British  military  critic  of  prominence  who  has 


THE    DEATH    OF    MONTGOMERY  255 

paid  this  subject  any  attention,  Major-General  Sir 
J.  Carmichael  Smythe,  Bart.,  writes:  "It  may  be 
observed  of  this  enterprise  against  Quebec  that  the 
attempt  was  soldier-like  and  enterprising,"  but  he  is 
of  the  opinion  that  the  feints  and  real  attacks  should 
have  been  reversed.  Of  course,  the  same  comment 
may  be  applied  to  this  criticism  as  that  which  we 
have  made  in  connection  with  General  Cullum's  views, 
but  it  seems  proper  to  add  that  General  Smythe 's 
work  is  not  at  all  pretentious,  and  certainly  does  not 
claim  to  be  an  exhaustive  study  of  the  campaign. 

It  should  be  remembered,  also,  that  not  only  were 
the  two  leaders  of  the  real  assaults  put  at  the  very 
outset  hors  du  combat,  but  their  Canadian  guides  were 
both  killed,  so  that  the  heads  of  each  column  were 
not  only  crushed  and  mutilated,  but  blinded  as  well. 
The  night,  too,  was  so  dark  and  tempestuous  that 
even  those  familiar  with  the  way  lost  their  bearings 
and  wandered  helpless  among  the  drifts  of  snow,  which 
are  said  in  some  places  to  have  been  nearly  thirty  feet 
in  depth.  That  the  leaders  of  the  little  army  should 
have  exposed  themselves  to  the  greatest  dangers  was, 
in  Montgomery's  case  at  least,  thought  necessary. 
A  knowledge  of  the  sort  of  troops  which  he  com 
manded  can  alone  determine  the  wisdom  of  his  deci 
sion.  From  their  behavior  after  his  death,  it  seems 
that  Montgomery's  judgment  in  regard  to  them  was 
sound.  With  Arnold  the  case  was  different;  he  could 
not  doubt  the  courage  of  the  men  who  had  followed 
him  through  the  wilderness,  still  his  acquaintance  with 
the  city  was  perhaps  counted  as  worth  something,  and 


256 

he  was  not  a  man  to  remain  aloof  in  safety  while  his 
soldiers  were  facing  death  and  winning  glory  beneath 
the  walls  of  the  fortress  he  had  come  to  capture. 

That  it  was  possible  to  penetrate  to  the  very  center 
of  the  Lower  Town  was  shown  by  the  result;  that  it 
was  not  burned  by  the  Americans  is  to  be  explained 
by  their  failure  to  receive  any  information  with  regard 
to  the  fate  of  Montgomery's  column.  The  wind  was 
northeast,  blowing  very  hard,  and  had  they  applied 
the  torch  without  waiting  for  tidings  from  Mont 
gomery,  they  might  have  enveloped  his  troops  in  the 
general  conflagration,  and  prevented  the  junction 
which  was  so  essential  a  part  of  the  plan.  Contrary 
to  most  accounts,  Livingston  and  his  Canadians  and 
Brown's  party  were  not  late,  but  reached  their  ap 
pointed  position  in  good  season,  and  the  rockets  were 
discharged  precisely  at  five  o'clock  according  to 
orders,  but  both  Arnold's  and  Montgomery's  columns 
were  behind  time.  What  became  of  the  men  under 
Knowles  is  not  known.  Very  probably,  as  they  were 
but  a  small  number,  they  were  easily  dispersed  by 
Laws's  sally.  Some  one  has  suggested  that  the  depth 
of  the  snow-drifts  prevented  near  approach  to  the  ram 
parts,  so  that  the  danger  from  these  false  attacks 
never  appeared  imminent  to  the  enemy,  but  it  seems 
certain  that  they  might  have  been  longer  persisted  in 
and  to  much  advantage.  They  might  at  least  have 
prevented  Laws  from  sallying  from  the  Palace  gate, 
and  have  covered  the  retreat  of  Morgan  and  Meigs. 

After  all  is  said,  Montgomery's  error  was  in  think 
ing  that  so  many  points,  each  at  considerable  dis- 


THE    DEATH    OF   MONTGOMERY  257 

tance  from  the  others,  could  be  approached  simulta 
neously,  particularly  on  such  a  night,  and  over  such 
rough  and  intricate  roads.  A  plan  which  included  a 
single  real  attack  on  the  fortified  front,  strong  enough 
to  test  the  prospect  of  success  there;  another  main 
attack  in  force  upon  the  Sault  au  Matelot  barriers, 
with  a  feint  at  Pres  de  Ville,  calculated  to  draw  the 
fire  of  the  guns  there,  and  steadily  maintained  while 
the  other  attacks  were  in  progress,  offered  a  very  fair 
prospect  of  success,  if  the  intention  was  merely  to 
get  possession  of  the  Lower  Town  long  enough  either 
to  fire  it,  or  by  threats  of  such  a  course  to  bring  to 
bear  upon  Governor  Carleton  the  pressure  of  the  ter 
rified  loyalists  of  the  city,  who  would  urge  surrender 
rather  than  submit  to  the  destruction  of  their  homes 
and  their  property. 

These  operations  would  have  detected  any  fault  in 
the  strength  of  the  defenses,  and  offered  the  shortest 
and  easiest  possible  supporting  distance  for  the  Amer 
icans,  and  the  longest  and  most  difficult  for  the  gar 
rison.  Where  the  greatest  weakness  developed,  there 
the  sword  should  have  been  plunged  home.  If  no 
such  weakness  were  exposed,  the  troops  could  be 
drawn  off,  and  the  retreat  of  any  one  assaulting  col 
umn  if  endangered,  could  be  easily  covered.  There 
would  have  been  strength  enough  outside  to  hold  open 
the  mouth  of  the  trap  which  the  Lower  Town  became 
for  Arnold's  detachment.  As  it  was,  that  important 
duty  was  entrusted  to  Livingston's  Canadians,  who 
failed  at  the  critical  moment,  as  there  had  been  too 
much  reason  to  expect  would  be  the  case. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

THE  AMERICANS   STAND  THEIR  GROUND 


HE  loss  which  the  Americans  sustained  in 
killed,  wounded  and  those  taken  prison 
ers,  during  the  early  hours  of  this  most 
disastrous  New  Year's  Day,  was  so  great 
that  the  reader  cannot  but  wonder  that 
the  survivors  had  the  spirit  to  maintain  an  investment 
of  the  town  with  ranks  so  pitifully  thinned.  It  is  im 
possible  to  set  down  with  exactness  the  details  of  this 
loss,  for  accounts  of  it  differ  widely.  A  report  found 
in  the  Canadian  archives  places  it  at  thirty  killed, 
forty-two  wounded  and  three  hundred  and  eighty-nine 
taken  prisoners,  a  postscript  adding  that  sixteen  rebels 
later  died  of  their  wounds  within  the  city,  while 
twenty-three  more  died  of  the  smallpox  or  camp 
fever.  These  figures  are  probably  too  low,  for  Colonel 
McLean,  writing  to  a  friend  on  May  28,  declares  that 
the  garrison  had  buried  two  hundred  and  twenty 
rebels  since  the  assault  on  the  morning  of  January  1, 
besides  twenty  more  whose  bodies  were  found  in  the 
spring  when  the  snow  melted  away.  Arnold's  own 
report  has  been  lost,  but  Henry,  the  American  soldier 
from  whose  journal  I  have  quoted  in  earlier  pages, 
estimates  the  loss  of  the  army  as  at  least  one  hundred 
and  fifty  killed  and  sixty  wounded,  the  proportion 
of  fatalities  being  very  high  on  account  of  the  bitter 

258 


AMERICANS   STAND    THEIR   GROUND        259 

cold  and  the  driving  snow,  which  caused  many  to 
die  who  under  other  conditions  would  only  have  been 
crippled  by  their  wounds.  There  seems  no  reason  to 
doubt  that  Carleton  was  not  far  out  of  the  way  when 
he  wrote  to  General  Howe  that  "the  rebels  had  be 
tween  six  and  seven  hundred  men,  and  between  forty 
and  fifty  officers,  killed,  wounded  or  taken  prisoners." 
This  was  more  than  half  of  the  entire  force,  including 
the  invalids  and  the  unreliable  French-Canadian  vol 
unteers. 

The  British  loss  was  put  by  Carleton  as  low  as 
"one  lieutenant  killed  and  four  of  the  rank  and  file 
wounded,"  while  other  accounts  make  it  ten  times  as 
great.  Probably  the  truth  lies  between;  perhaps  with 
a  British  officer  who  admitted  in  his  journal  five 
deaths  and  fourteen  men  wounded;  perhaps  with 
Henry,  who  tells  us  that  the  captain  of  the  prison 
guard  said  seven  or  eight  were  killed,  and  fifteen  or 
twenty  wounded. 

Among  the  bodies  found  by  the  garrison  and 
brought  within  the  walls,  as  related  in  the  last  chap 
ter,  was  that  of  General  Montgomery.  So  many 
different  tales  of  the  burial  of  Montgomery  have 
been  told,  most  of  them  supported  by  testimony  of 
apparently  equal  credibility,  that  it  is  with  great  sat 
isfaction  that  I  find  myself  able  to  give  this  account 
upon  the  authority  of  the  officer  who  actually  super 
intended  the  burial : 

Upon  the  General's  body  being  brought  within  the 
walls  it  was  identified  by  a  Mrs.  Prentice,  a  widow, 


260        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

who  then  kept  a  hotel  known  by  the  name  of  "Free 
Masons'  Hall,"  by  a  scar  on  one  of  his  cheeks,  sup 
posed  to  be  a  saber  cut.  This  identification  being 
confirmed  by  one  of  the  American  officers  who  had 
been  taken  prisoner,  General  Carleton  ordered  that 
the  body  should  be  decently  buried  in  the  most' 
private  manner,  and  entrusted  the  direction  of  the 
affair  to  James  Thompson,  the  engineer.  Mr. 
Thompson  caused  the  body  to  be  conveyed  to  a 
small  log  house  on  St.  Louis  street,  the  second  from 
the  corner  of  St.  Ursule  street,  owned  by  one  Fran- 
Qois  Gaubert,  a  cooper,  and  ordered  a  suitable  coffin 
prepared.  He  also  attended  the  funeral  and  saw  the 
body  placed  in  a  grave  next  to  that  of  his  own  first 
wife,  within  and  near  the  surrounding  wall  of  the 
powder  magazine,  then  standing  in  the  gorge  of  the 
St.  Louis  bastion.  There  were  six  men  and  Dunn, 
the  undertaker,  in  attendance,  beside  the  Rev.  Mr. 
DeMontmollin,  the  military  chaplain,  who  read  the 
service.  The  interment  took  place  about  sundown 
on  January  4. 

The  statement  made  by  several  writers,  contempo 
rary  and  otherwise,  that  Montgomery's  body  was 
escorted  to  the  grave  by  an  impressive  funeral  cor 
tege,  and  buried  with  all  the  honors  of  war,  seems 
in  the  face  of  this  account  to  be  a  mistake.  Perhaps 
it  arose  from  the  fact  that  on  the  same  day  several 
British  officers  who  had  fallen  during  the  night 
assault  were  buried  with  such  pomp  as  the  condition 
of  the  garrison  would  allow;  Montgomery's  simple 
obsequies  may  have  been  confused  with  theirs.  In- 


HOUSE    TO    WHICH    MONTGOMERY'S    BODY 
WAS    TAKEN. 

(Showing  usual  height  of  Quebec  houses  0/1775.) 


AMERICANS    STAND    THEIR   GROUND        261 

deed  it  would  have  been  an  act  of  very  doubtful 
policy  to  make  any  conspicuous  display  of  official 
respect  over  Montgomery's  grave.  Honors  paid  to 
rebels,  dead  or  alive,  would  not  promote  constancy 
and  loyalty.  Nevertheless  the  gallant  young  officer 
so  recently  a  comrade  in  his  Majesty's  service  had 
many  a  sincere  mourner  among  garrison  and  citizens 
alike,  and  his  early  and  heroic  death  was  lamented 
in  eloquent  phrases  by  the  greatest  of  English  states 
men  within  the  halls  of  Parliament  itself.  Throughout 
the  colonies  men  felt  his  loss  as  a  personal  bereave 
ment,  and  Congress,  in  testimony  to  his  bravery, 
patriotism  and  indomitable  perseverance,  voted  the 
money  for  a  monument  to  his  memory,  which  was 
erected  in  the  churchyard  of  St.  Paul's  chapel  in 
New  York.  Forty-two  years  later  his  body  was  re 
moved  from  its  shallow  grave  under  the  walls  of 
Quebec  and  reinterred  with  solemn  ceremonial  in  St. 
Paul's  within  a  few  rods  of  the  shaft  raised  in  his 
honor  by  the  young  republic  in  whose  cause  he  had 
fallen. 

His  pet  spaniel,  no  less  sincere  a  mourner  than  his 
human  friends,  lay  for  eight  days  without  food  upon 
his  master's  grave,  until  he  was  removed  by  Carle- 
ton's  aide-de-camp,  Lenaudiere,— so  at  least  we  are 
told  in  the  memoirs  of  one  de  Gaspe,  who  was  himself 
a  relative  of  Lenaudiere.  Both  the  General's  aides, 
John  Macpherson  and  Jacob  Cheeseman,  were  buried 
in  their  clothes  without  coffins  in  a  trench  dug  near 
Montgomery's  grave.  Here  also  were  interred  all 


262        ARNOLD'S   EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

the  other  soldiers  killed  at  Pres  de  Ville  and  brought 
into  the  city. 

Shortly  afterward,  Thompson  visited  the  American 
officers,  who  were  confined  in  the  minor  seminary  of 
Laval,  having  at  his  side  the  sword  of  Montgomery, 
which  he  had  purchased  from  a  drummer  boy  who 
had  picked  it  up  beside  the  body  of  the  General  when 
found  at  Pres  de  Ville.  The  prisoners  were  so  deeply 
affected  at  the  sight  that  several  wept,  and  Thompson 
was  so  much  impressed  by  their  emotion  that  he 
never  wore  the  sword  again  in  their  presence.  Later 
Carleton,  upon  receiving  a  request  from  Mrs.  Mont 
gomery,  conveyed  through  General  Wooster,  forwarded 
Montgomery's  watch  and  seal  to  her. 

When  tidings  of  the  death  of  Montgomery  reached 
the  General  Hospital  and  were  communicated  to  the 
sick  and  wounded  by  the  Abbe  de  Eigaudville,  the 
chaplain,  the  utmost  consternation  prevailed;  even 
the  nuns,  from  sympathy  or  policy,  joined  in  the  uni 
versal  lament,  "  Montgomery  is  dead— Montgomery  is 
dead ! ' '  Every  invalid  who  could  move  sought  to  seize 
his  baggage  and  fly;  weak  from  fevers  or  wounds, 
they  stumbled  and  fell  helpless  to  the  floor  in  panic, 
while  the  sisters  looked  on  in  distress.  Here  at  the 
hospital  lay  Arnold,  enduring  the  first  pain  of  his 
shattered  leg,  and  weak  from  loss  of  blood.  When  a 
report  reached  him  that  the  enemy  were  sallying,  he 
would  not  allow  the  attendants  to  carry  him  from  the 
building  to  a  place  of  safety,  nor  to  leave  the  hospi 
tal  themselves,  but  ordered  them  to  place  his  pistols 


AMERICANS    STAND    THEIR   GROUND        263 

and  sword  on  his  bed  that  he  might  kill  as  many  as 
possible  of  his  enemies  should  they  enter  the  room. 
He  even  ordered  guns  to  be  placed  near  each  of 
the  wounded  men.  When  the  alarm  proved  false 
he  coolly  proceeded  to  make  the  best  disposition  he 
could  of  the  demoralized  forces  which  remained  to 
him;  he  would  not  permit  the  removal  of  the  artil 
lery  stores  and  ammunition,  of  which  they  had  a 
large  quantity,  lest  the  want  of  confidence  implied 
thereby  should  increase  the  distrust  of  their  Cana 
dian  allies  in  the  ability  of  the  Americans  to  hold 
their  ground.  But  he  caused  the  cannon  to  be  with 
drawn  from  the  battery  of  the  Plains  and  placed 
around  the  magazine,  and  ordered  couriers  to  be 
dispatched  to  the  captains  of  Canadian  militia  in  the 
neighboring  parishes,  urging  them  to  hurry  to  their 
support.  Many  Canadians  came  in  under  the  im 
pression  that  the  Lower  Town  was  in  the  hands  of 
the  Americans. 

He  also  wrote  to  General  Wooster  by  Mr.  Antill, 
giving  him  a  brief  account  of  the  assault,  and  noti 
fying  him  that,  owing  to  his  wound,  he  had  made 
over  the  command  which  devolved  upon  him,  to 
Colonel  Campbell.  This  letter  he  wrote  from  his  bed 
in  the  General  Hospital,  in  the  early  morning  of  the 
1st  of  January,  at  the  end  of  this  long  night  of  ex 
citement,  hardship,  suffering,  and  defeat. 

Arnold's  retirement  in  favor  of  Colonel  Campbell, 
though  made  in  entire  good  faith,  was  by  no  means 
acceptable  to  the  other  officers,  who  felt  that  the 
latter 's  indecision  and  timidity  after  Montgomery's 


264        ARNOLD'S   EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

death  had  sacrificed  what  might  have  been  a  brilliant 
success  at  Pres  de  Ville,  and  had  therefore  been  the 
cause  of  the  ruin  which  had  overtaken  the  entire  en 
terprise.  By  a  unanimous  vote  they  appointed  Arnold 
commander  of  all  the  troops  before  Quebec,  and  upon 
him,  stretched  helpless  upon  his  bed,  devolved  the 
almost  hopeless  task  of  gathering  the  shattered  rem 
nants  of  the  army  about  him,  reorganizing  the  dis 
heartened  battalions  and  encouraging  them  to  persist 
in  the  tedious  and  dreary  investment  of  the  city. 
That  his  own  indomitable  spirit  did  not  waver  we 
learn  from  this  letter,  written  a  few  days  after  the 
failure  of  the  assault: 

"I  have  no  thought  of  leaving  this  proud  town 
until  I  first  enter  it  in  triumph.  My  wound  has  been 
exceedingly  painful,  but  it  is  now  easy,  and  the  sur 
geon  assures  me  it  will  be  well  in  eight  weeks.  Provi 
dence,  which  has  carried  me  through  so  many  dangers, 
is  still  my  protector.  I  am  in  the  way  of  my  duty, 
and  know  no  fear." 

The  force  which  the  wounded  commander  found  at 
his  disposal  numbered  less  than  seven  hundred  men, 
including  Livingston's  body  of  Canadians,  and  many 
of  these  were  prostrated  by  sickness  or  severe  wounds. 
About  one  hundred  men,  panic-stricken,  had  fled  to 
ward  Montreal  before  enough  discipline  was  restored 
to  the  routed  army  to  check  their  flight.  Desertions 
also  were  frequent,  for  the  camp  duty  was  increasingly 
arduous,  and  the  peril  from  smallpox,  exposure  and 
the  enemy's  superior  force  was  in  like  measure  far 


AMERICANS    STAND    THEIR    GROUND         265 

greater  than  before  the  ill-starred  assault.  Expecting 
daily  that  the  British,  flushed  with  success,  and  now 
treble  their  number,  would  sally  forth  to  overwhelm 
them  before  they  could  recover  from  their  crushing 
defeat,  the  remnant  of  the  little  army  of  patriots  set 
at  once  to  work  to  build  themselves  a  breastwork  of 
snow  and  ice  to  protect  them  from  musket-balls. 

Gloom  and  discouragement  pervaded  the  camp. 
Smallpox,  like  a  hidden  sharpshooter,  continued  to 
pick  off  its  victims,  and  details  for  the  burial  of  these 
unfortunates  and  some  of  those  mortally  wounded 
on  the  night  of  the  assault,  made  more  arduous  and 
disheartening  the  long  terms  of  guard  duty  forced 
upon  every  able-bodied  man  by  the  poverty  of  their 
numbers.  The  rigor  of  the  season  continued  una 
bated  and  heavy  snow-storms  and  severe  cold  pre 
vailed.  Four  feet  of  snow  on  a  level  covered  the 
ground.  But  the  British,  not  to  be  tempted  even  by 
the  feebleness  of  their  antagonists,  continued  to  hug 
their  fortifications,  and  the  long  winter  days,  full  of 
anxiety,  wretchedness  and  discomfort  for  the  Conti 
nentals,  dragged  on,  while  no  reinforcements  reached 
them  from  Montreal.  Wooster  wrote  home  telling  of 
his  astonishment  that  Arnold  was  still  able  to  hold 
the  garrison  within  the  walls.  At  a  liberal  estimate, 
Arnold  had  not  more  than  three  hundred  and  fifty 
men  fit  for  duty,  not  counting  the  Canadians.  Wash 
ington  declared  that  "it  (the  blockade)  exhibits  fresh 
proofs  of  Arnold's  ability  and  perseverance  in  the 
midst  of  difficulties." 

24 


266        ARNOLD'S   EXPEDITION   TO    QUEBEC 

On  the  19th  of  January  the  Americans  made  bon 
fires  of  the  houses  in  St.  John  to  prevent  the  garrison 
from  using  them  as  firewood,  and  on  the  23d,  suc 
ceeded  in  setting  fire  to  some  of  the  vessels  moored 
along  the  St.  Charles.  On  the  following  night  the 
torch  was  applied  to  St.  Roque.  The  conflagration 
was  a  fearful  sight  to  the  beleaguered  citizens.  The 
snow-laden  clouds,  hanging  low,  took  an  orange  tinge, 
and  the  snow,— so  far  as  the  flames  gave  light, — 
turned  reddish  yellow.  The  adjacent  country  seemed 
covered  with  a  pitchy  fire,  and  the  villages  of  Beau- 
port,  Charlesbourg  and  St.  Foy  were  just  visible  in  the 
lurid  glare.  Nothing  could  be  heard  but  the  crackling 
of  burning  timbers  and  the  hollow  roaring  of  fierce 
flames.  Fourteen  houses  were  destroyed  that  night. 

At  last,  on  the  24th  of  January,  one  hundred  and 
fifty  men  arrived  at  the  rebel  camp,  from  General 
Wooster  at  Montreal.  These  were  followed,  on  Feb 
ruary  4,  by  troops  from  New  England,  some  twenty- 
five  in  number,  who  had  come  across  the  country  on 
snow-shoes,  carrying  their  provisions  on  their  backs. 
From  that  time  reinforcements  continued  to  arrive  in 
small  parties  both  from  Montreal  and  the  colonies. 
Recruiting  officers  were  also  sent  into  the  smaller 
towns  and  parishes  of  the  surrounding  country,  to 
endeavor  to  reorganize  the  Canadian  militia,  and 
attach  it  to  the  cause ;  while  Arnold  assumed  authority 
of  Congress,  and  pledged  his  own  credit  to  raise 
another  regiment  of  Canadians,  writing  that  he  hoped 
the  exigency  of  his  situation  would  secure  the  coun 
tenance  of  Congress  for  his  acts. 


AMERICANS    STAND    THEIR   GROUND         267 

The  force  of  the  besiegers  was  still  far  too  small 
completely  to  invest  Quebec  or  to  undertake  any  offen 
sive  movement;  they  could  not  even  succeed  in  pre 
venting  the  garrison  from  sallying  in  small  parties, 
from  time  to  time,  to  obtain  fresh  supplies  of  fuel 
from  the  ruins  of  houses  in  St.  Koque  and  St.  John. 
In  spite  of  their  every  effort,  by  one  ruse  and  another, 
messengers  from  the  loyal  party  in  Montreal  and  the 
upper  region  of  the  province  often  succeeded  in  car 
rying  dispatches  through  their  lines  and  safely  return 
ing,  the  frozen  river  offering  many  opportunities  for 
passing  in  and  out  of  the  town.  It  may  fairly  be 
questioned  whether  Arnold  was  wise  in  maintaining 
a  siege  so  inefficient,  and  whether  he  could  not  have 
served  his  cause  more  effectually  by  retreating  to 
Montreal  and  comfortably  caring  for  his  men  in 
winter  quarters  there,  while  he  conciliated  and  organ 
ized  the  Canadians  in  preparation  for  a  renewal  of 
the  siege  in  the  spring.  But  his  orders  from  Wash 
ington  were  almost  imperative ;  affairs  must  be  pushed 
while  the  frozen  river  prevented  reinforcements  from 
reaching  the  garrison;  spring  could  not  be  waited  for. 

"I  need  not  mention  to  you,"  he  wrote  from  Cam 
bridge  January  27,  "the  great  importance  of  this  place 
[Quebec],  and  the  consequent  possession  of  all  Can 
ada,  in  the  scale  of  American  affairs.  You  are  well 
apprised  of  it.  To  whomsoever  it  belongs,  in  their 
favor,  probably,  will  the  balance  turn.  If  it  is  ours, 
success,  I  think,  will  most  certainly  crown  our  vir 
tuous  struggles.  If  it  is  theirs,  the  contest,  at  best, 
will  be  doubtful,  hazardous  and  bloody.  The  glorious 


268        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

work  must  be  accomplished  in  the  course  of  this  win 
ter,  otherwise  it  will  become  difficult,  most  probably 
impracticable;  for  the  administration,  knowing  it  will 
be  impossible  ever  to  reduce  us  to  a  state  of  slavery 
and  arbitrary  rule  without  it,  will  certainly  send  a 
large  reinforcement  thither  in  the  spring.  I  am 
fully  convinced  that  your  exertions  will  be  invariably 
directed  to  this  grand  object,  and  I  already  view  the 
approaching  day  when  you  and  your  brave  followers 
will  enter  this  important  fortress  with  every  honor 
attendant  on  victory." 

Arnold  himself  was  sanguine  of  the  ultimate  suc 
cess  of  the  campaign,  although  he  recognized  the 
pitiful  inadequacy  of  the  force  assembled  under  his 
command.  While  still  stretched  upon  his  bed  in  the 
General  Hospital  he  wrote  to  beg  Congress  to  send  to 
Quebec  an  army  of  at  least  five  thousand  men  under 
a  general  of  experience.  With  this  force  he  believed 
the  fortress  could  be  taken.  "  Every  possible  prepa 
ration  of  mortars,  howitzers,  and  some  heavy  cannon 
should  be  made,"  he  added,  "as  the  season  will  per 
mit  raising  our  batteries  by  the  middle  of  March, 
which  may  very  possibly  be  attended  with  success, 
as  we  can  place  our  mortars  under  cover  within 
200  yards  of  the  walls,  and  within  1,000  feet  of  the 
center  of  the  town.  I  am  well  assured  that  more 
than  one-half  of  the  citizens  of  Quebec  would  gladly 
open  the  gates  for  us,  but  are  prevented  by  the  strict 
discipline  and  watch  kept  over  them;  the  command  of 
the  guards  being  constantly  given  to  officers  of  the 
Crown  known  to  be  firm  in  its  interest.  The  garrison 


AMERICANS    STAND    THEIR    GROUND         269 

consists  of  about  fifteen  hundred  men,  a  great  part 
of  whom  Governor  Carleton  can  place  no  confidence 
in,  or  he  would  not  suffer  a  blockade  and  every  dis 
tress  of  a  siege  by  700  men." 

It  proved  impossible  to  raise  and  equip  the  five 
thousand  troops  that  Arnold  had  asked  for.  Wash 
ington  could  spare  none  from  the  army  with  which 
he  still  maintained  the  siege  of  Boston,  for  it  was 
only  with  the  greatest  difficulty  that  he  could  induce 
enough  of  the  militia  to  remain  with  him  to  carry 
forward  his  own  operations.  But  what  could  be  done, 
was  done.  A  council  of  general  officers  was  called  at 
Cambridge  which  "determined  that  the  colonies  of 
Massachusetts,  New  Hampshire  and  Connecticut  should 
each  immediately  raise  a  regiment  to  continue  in  ser 
vice  one  year,  and  to  march  forthwith  to  Canada." 
Without  waiting  for  Congress  to  carry  out  a  resolu 
tion  to  raise  nine  battalions  for  that  purpose,  passed 
before  the  news  of  the  failure  of  the  attack  on  Quebec 
had  reached  them,  Washington  addressed  letters  to 
the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts,  to  the  Governor 
of  Connecticut,  and  to  the  president  of  the  convention 
of  New  Hampshire,  requesting  them  to  act  at  once 
upon  the  decision  of  the  war  council.  Connecticut 
had  already  anticipated  the  call,  and  sent  off  troops 
without  delay  to  Canada.  The  other  colonies  also 
gallantly  responded.  New  Hampshire  soon  raised  a 
regiment  under  the  command  of  Colonel  Bedel,  and 
Massachusetts  another  under  Colonel  Elisha  Porter; 
both  were  hurried  to  Canada  by  way  of  "Number 
Four"  ( Charlestown,  N.  H.),  and  the  Onion  Eiver. 


270        AENOLD'S   EXPEDITION   TO    QUEBEC 

Captain  Ebenezer  Stevens,  with  two  companies  of 
Knox's  Massachusetts  artillery  and  a  company  of 
artificers,  cut  a  road  for  forty  miles  across  the  Green 
Mountains  to  Otter  Creek,  and  descended  that  stream 
on  rafts  constructed  on  the  banks. 


CHAPTER  XVII 
PKIS  ONERS  OF  WAR 

EANWHILE,  what  was  the  fate  of  the 
four  hundred  unfortunate  men  who  had 
survived  the  perils  of  the  wilderness  with 
Arnold,  and  the  slaughter  of  the  night 

assault  with  Morgan,  only  to  be  ignomin- 

iously  made  prisoners  and  confined  in  the  very  town 
they  had  come  to  capture  I  We  have  already  seen  that 
the  officers  were  imprisoned  in  the  Seminary  of 
Laval  and  the  enlisted  men  in  the  Monastery  and 
College  of  the  Eecollets  in  the  Upper  Town.  This 
latter  building,  had  Carleton  felt  he  could  spare  a 
larger  number  of  men  for  guard  duty,  would  have 
made  an  excellent  prison.  It  was  an  immense  quad 
rangular  edifice,  capable  of  accommodating  three  or 
four  thousand  persons,  enclosing  a  half-acre  or  so  of 
open  garden  or  shrubbery,  one  side  of  the  building 
being  built  on  the  slope  of  the  hill.  The  lower  part 
of  the  building  was  at  this  time  used  for  a  store 
house,  and  the  prisoners  were  confined  in  an  upper 
story,  where  they  were  given  rooms  about  ten  by 
twelve  or  fourteen  feet  in  floor  dimensions,  opening 
off  long  galleries  about  twelve  feet  wide.  They  were 
numerous  enough,  though  ten  or  twelve  were  confined 
in  each  room,  to  occupy  the  greater  part  of  each  of 

271 


272        AKNOLD'S    EXPEDITION   TO    QUEBEC 

two  sides  of  the  quadrangle.  They  were  crowded 
into  these  shamefully  narrow  quarters  in  order  to 
economize  guards,  and  their  discomfort  for  the  short 
time  they  remained  here  was  very  great.  Nor  were 
they  in  any  respect  cheered  by  the  sight  of  the 
wagons  which  repeatedly  passed  the  windows  of  their 
prison,  bearing  the  dead  bodies  of  their  comrades 
who  had  fallen  in  the  assault.  Heaped  upon  one 
another  just  as  they  had  been  rescued  from  the 
snow-drifts,  frozen  into  stiffly  distorted  shapes,  the 
spectacle  was  one  which  moved  the  pity  even  of  the 
enemy  and  plunged  the  prisoners  into  the  depths  of 
dejection  and  grief. 

Except  for  the  unwholesome  crowding  to  which 
they  were  subjected,  the  Americans  were  treated  with 
humanity,  and  even  with  consideration.  The  mer 
chants  of  the  town,  with  Carleton's  permission,  sent 
them  a  tun  of  rum  for  a  New  Year's  gift  and  the  Gov 
ernor  himself  showed  them  several  notable  kindnesses. 
One  of  their  jailers  indeed  was  accused  of  selling  the 
provisions  allowed  to  the  captives  for  his  own  profit, 
but  his  career  was  brief,  for  smallpox,  which  was 
raging  in  the  city,  made  a  speedy  end  of  him.  Their 
daily  ration  was  a  pound  of  bread,  half  a  pound  of  pork 
and  a  gill  of  rice,  with  six  ounces  of  butter  a  week. 

The  prisoners  were  early  visited  by  Colonel  McLean 
and  other  officers  to  ascertain  how  many  of  them  were 
born  in  Europe.  Those  who  confessed  to  British  or 
Irish  birth  were  told  that  they  might  enlist  in  the 
Royal  Emigrants,  or  be  sent  to  England  in  the  spring 


PRISONERS    OF   WAR  273 

and  tried  for  treason.  Ninety-five  enlisted,  many 
under  the  impression  that  an  oath  so  forced  was  not 
obligatory  and  with  the  intention  of  deserting  imme 
diately,  while  others — among  them  native  Americans — 
found  the  temptation  of  a  speedy  return  to  their  wives 
and  sweethearts  too  strong  for  their  honor. 

The  first  to  make  free  use  of  their  newly  acquired 
liberty  were  Conners  and  Cavanaugh— two  Irishmen 
of  Smith's  company.  They  procured  a  bottle  of  rum, 
and,  while  they  were  treating  a  sentry,  knocked  him 
down  with  the  butt  of  a  gun,  and  then  sprang  over  a 
wall,  a  distance  of  thirty  or  forty  feet,  into  a  snow 
drift  which  was  nearly  twenty-five  feet  deep.  Their 
danger  lay  chiefly  in  sinking  too  far  before  they  could 
extricate  themselves.  They  were  fired  upon  by  a  dis 
tant  sentry,  who  missed.  Both  of  them  finally  scam 
pered  off  unharmed,  although  they  had  to  run  another 
gauntlet  of  grape  and  canister  before  they  reached 
their  friends.  They  were  followed  at  frequent  inter 
vals  by  many  of  their  fellow-countrymen,  who  took 
the  same  view  of  their  forced  allegiance  to  the  King 
that  they  did,  until  Carleton  in  disgust  ordered  back 
into  confinement  all  of  the  ninety-five  who  still  re 
mained  within  the  walls. 

The  American  officers  at  the  Seminary  of  Laval 
were  more  comfortably  lodged  than  their  comrades 
of  the  rank  and  file.  Then,  too,  their  baggage  was 
allowed  to  be  sent  in  to  them  from  the  camp  out 
side,  and  they  were  regularly  visited  by  Carleton 's 
physician,  who  carried  his  care  for  them  so  far  as  to 

25 


274        ARNOLD'S   EXPEDITION   TO    QUEBEC 

inoculate  a  number  of  them  for  the  smallpox.  In 
spite  of  this  precaution,  three  took  the  disease  and 
one  died,  while  Captain  Hubbard,  who  had  been 
severely  wounded  in  the  assault,  died  a  few  days 
later  of  his  wounds.  The  British  officers,  who  occa 
sionally  visited  their  prisoners,  were  greatly  surprised 
at  the  humble  position  in  society  which  the  American 
officers  had  occupied.  Major  Caldwell  wrote  after 
ward  to  a  friend  as  follows:  "You  can  have  no  con 
ception  what  kind  of  men  composed  the  officers.  Of 
those  we  took,  one  major  was  a  blacksmith,  another 
a  hatter;  of  their  captains,  there  was  a  butcher,  a 
tanner,  a  shoemaker,  a  tavern-keeper,  etc.,  yet  they 
all  pretended  to  be  gentlemen." 

The  officers  who  had  been  inoculated  had  been 
assigned  to  another  room;  and  they  were  allowed  the 
privilege  of  walking  into  the  adjoining  room,  and  in 
the  entry,  two  at  a  time,  for  fresh  air  and  exercise. 
But  the  others  found  their  quarters  in  one  room,  31 
by  27  feet,  very  cramped,  and  were  not  of  the  spirit 
to  be  patient  with  such  narrow  bounds  of  confinement. 
Some  of  them  were  not  long  in  casting  about  for 
means  of  escape;  but  this  was  foreseen  by  their  cap 
tors,  who,  from  time  to  time,  moved  them  to  different 
quarters  in  the  building.  Squares  of  glass  were  set 
into  the  doors  of  the  rooms  where  they  slept,  so  that 
the  guards  could  look  in  at  any  time,  and  a  lamp  was 
kept  burning  all  night  in  each  room.  If  any  of  the 
windows  were  raised  during  the  night,  the  sentries 
outside  had  orders  to  fire.  On  the  5th  of  January 
pens  and  ink  were  taken  from  them,  on  suspicion  that 


PRISONERS    OF   WAR  275 

they  were  trying  to  communicate  with  friends  outside, 
and  this  prevented  the  officers  from  keeping  the  jour 
nals  they  had  commenced. 

News  of  the  war  leaked  in  from  the  outside  world, 
or  was  repeated  to  the  prisoners  by  the  sentries. 
Most  of  the  stories,  however,  were  highly  colored  by 
British  imaginations.  They  were  told  that  General 
Washington  had  lost  four  thousand  men,  some  killed 
and  some  wounded,  in  attempting  to  storm  Boston  j 
that  Montreal  had  been  taken  by  the  Canadians;  that 
General  Lee  had  marched  upon  New  York,  and  that 
out  of  two  thousand  men  he  had  lost  three  hundred 
by  desertion;  that  General  Amherst  had  arrived  in 
New  York  with  twelve  thousand  troops,  and  that  the 
paper  currency  of  Congress  had  lost  all  its  value. 
These  reports  of  course  served  to  increase  a  de 
spondency  already  profound,  though  the  prisoners 
found  cause  for  temporary  encouragement  in  a  cabal 
istic  message  from  Lieutenant  Church,  smuggled  in 
with  Captain  Topham's  baggage,  by  which  they  were 
informed  that  "their  long-nosed  cousin,  with  his  thick 
neck  black  dog,  was  a-coming  to  their  assistance." 
This  was  interpreted  to  mean  that  plans  were  already 
afoot  for  their  rescue. 

Within  the  city  the  winter  was  now  at  its  height. 
The  snow  was  drifted  in  places  ten,  and  even  twenty, 
feet  deep,  often  burying  the  cannon  on  the  ramparts 
entirely.  It  was  so  cold  that  sentries  had  to  be  re 
lieved  every  half  hour.  Provisions  had  become  very 
dear.  Beef  had  risen  to  Is.  6d.  a  pound,  pork  was  at 


276        ARNOLD'S   EXPEDITION   TO    QUEBEC 

Is.  3d.,  and  a  dozen  eggs  sold  for  2s.  6d.  Firewood 
was  exhausted,  and  the  people  were  compelled  to  pull 
down  houses  and  appropriate  the  timber  for  fuel. 
The  mercury  fell  to  28|°  below  zero,  and  the  in 
habitants  pronounced  the  winter  the  most  severe  they 
could  remember  with  but  one  exception.  Every  one 
began  to  live  on  salted  provisions,  salt  pork,  salt 
beef,  and  salt  fish. 

Poor  food,  and  the  want  of  fresh  meat  and  exercise 
told  heavily  on  all;  the  prisoners,  of  course,  fared 
the  worst.  They  were  always  very  scantily  supplied 
with  fuel;  sometimes  they  had  none  at  all;  and,  since 
they  had  no  other  clothing  than  that  in  which  they 
had  surrendered,  they  suffered  severely.  Often  it  was 
too  cold  to  sleep,  and  not  infrequently  they  spent  the 
long  and  weary  winter  nights  tramping  to  and  fro,  ex 
ercising  in  whatever  ways  their  imagination  could  in 
vent  and  the  narrow  bounds  of  their  prison  allowed. 
Governor  Carleton  treated  the  prisoners  with  a  hu 
manity  which  gained  him  an  honorable  reputation, 
but  it  was  such  humanity  as  a  beleaguered  garrison, 
now  obliged  to  husband  its  resources  for  its  own 
sustenance,  could  afford. 

Shortly  after  the  middle  of  January  the  common 
soldiers  had  been  taken  from  the  College  of  the 
Eecollets  and  carried  to  the  Dauphin  jail.  This 
was  a  building  constructed  in  the  old  French  Bastile 
style,  with  stone  walls  three  feet  thick  and  sunken 
windows  heavily  barred  with  iron.  It  stood  about 
three  hundred  yards  from  St.  John's  gate.  It  was 


PRISONERS    OF   WAR  277 

encompassed  by  a  wall  some  twenty  feet  high,  and 
was  placed  on  a  slight  elevation,  so  that  the  jail 
court  yard  in  the  rear  was  higher  by  several  feet 
than  St.  John's  street  on  the  front.  A  flight  of 
steps  ran  from  the  heavy  front  door  to  the  street, 
and  a  staircase  led  from  the  hall  within  this  door  to 
the  second  story.  There  were  four  rooms  below  and 
as  many  above  this  stairway,  well  supplied  with 
berths  and  bunks.  Smith's  company  occupied  one 
of  the  second-story  rooms;  Morgan's  that  immedi 
ately  below,  and  Hendricks's  men  the  one  adjoining 
Morgan's.  Some  of  the  men  were  in  the  hospital. 
Out  of  the  sixty-five  men  of  Smith's  company  who 
mounted  the  Plains  of  Abraham,  scarcely  more  than 
thirty  now  remained. 

Upon  examining  the  jail  and  its  immediate  sur 
roundings,  the  prisoners  soon  perceived  that  while 
it  presented,  superficially,  an  appearance  of  great 
strength,  in  reality  it  had  been  strangely  neglected 
and  offered  every  inducement  to  enterprise.  The  iron 
bars  on  many  of  the  windows  were  so  corroded  that 
they  could  be  readily  moved  up  and  down  in  their 
sockets  and  could  be  displaced  without  much  difficulty. 
In  the  front  basement  on  St.  John's  street  was  a 
newly-made  door  of  planks,  which  opened  inward; 
it  was  hung  upon  H  hinges  and  hasped,  and  secured 
on  the  inside  by  a  large  padlock.  Here  was  an 
oversight  which  seemed  almost  an  invitation.  The 
prisoners  soon  manipulated  the  hinges  and  the  pad 
lock,  so  that  they  could  remove  them  quickly  and  at 


278        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION   TO    QUEBEC 

will.    A  sally-port  better  adapted  to  their  purposes 
could  hardly  have  been  arranged  for  them. 

The  non-commissioned  officers  of  the  various  com 
panies  took  the  lead,  and  met  in  daily  consultation. 
At  the  top  of  the  staircase  they  noticed  a  small  room 
lighted  by  two  windows.  Peeping  through  the  key 
hole,  they  discovered  a  quantity  of  iron  junk.  They 
managed  to  pick  the  lock  and  after  ransacking  the 
room,  carefully  closed  the  door.  Amongst  the  junk 
were  some  iron  hoops,  about  three  inches  broad,  out 
of  which  they  crudely  made  some  iron  swords  and 
spear-heads.  They  then  took  out  the  bottom  of  their 
berths,  which  were  made  of  fir-plank,  and  split  them 
into  shafts  for  their  weapons.  The  lower  berths  hap 
pened  to  be  raised  from  the  floor  and  the  weapons 
were  secreted  there.  In  addition  to  these,  some  of 
the  prisoners,  when  they  surrendered,  had  secreted 
their  long  hunting-knives  and  a  few  tomahawks. 

There  were  sentries  posted  at  each  of  the  four  cor 
ners  of  the  jail,  and  on  top  of  the  wall  of  the  jail 
court,  which  was  broad  enough  to  be  patrolled.  There 
was  also  another  sentry  posted  about  twenty  feet  in 
front  of  the  cellar  door,  but  these  sentries  were  all 
outside  and  knew  nothing  of  how  the  prisoners  passed 
their  time.  The  captain  of  the  provost  guard,  who 
was  most  likely  to  discover  their  preparations,  was 
not  suspicious,  and  the  prisoners  posted  sentries  of 
their  own  to  give  notice  of  the  approach  of  the  guard, 
composed  of  some  boys  and  old  men,  whose  appoint 
ment  over  them  the  captives  considered  rather  an  in- 


PRISONERS    OF    WAR  279 

suit  to  their  manhood  than  good  economy  on  the  part 
of  Carleton.  The  British  officers  chose  to  consider, 
still,  that  the  rank  and  file  of  the  Americans  were 
poor  devils  deluded  by  designing  rascals  and  dazzled 
by  the  phantom  of  " liberty." 

It  seemed  that  the  only  obstacle  in  the  way  of  an 
escape  was  to  be  found  at  St.  John's  gate,  which 
was  guarded  by  thirty  men,  either  regular  troops  or 
sailors.  The  guard-house  of  the  prison-guard  was 
distant  from  the  jail  some  forty  feet,  and  was  in  full 
view.  From  the  windows  and  a  skylight  of  the 
prison,  the  prisoners  could  descry  every  sentry,  and 
it  was  observed  at  night  that  the  guard,  on  being 
relieved,  stacked  their  arms  in  a  corner  of  a  room  in 
the  story  above  the  basement  of  the  guard-house,  lay 
down  on  the  floor  about  the  fire,  and  were  generally 
asleep  in  a  few  moments.  Assiduous  observation 
acquainted  the  Americans  with  every  duty  of  these 
guards;  they  knew  the  number  of  steps  of  the  flight 
which  led  to  the  guard-room  opposite;  they  had  cal 
culated  the  number  of  strides  necessary  to  surmount 
them,  and  felt  confident  that  the  sentries  could  be 
easily  surprised  and  overpowered.  Every  detail  was 
worked  out  with  the  greatest  care,  and  the  forces  of 
the  prisoners  were  organized  by  appointing  those 
of  the  greatest  spirit  as  majors  and  captains. 

Sergeant  Aston*  of  Lamb's  company  was  to  lead 
the  remnants  of  his  old  company,  increased  by  about 

*  The  War  Department  records  give  his  name  as  Joseph  Ashton.    He 
was  afterwards  Major  of  the  Second  U.  S.  Infantry,  and  resigned  in 

1792. 


280        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

one  hundred  and  fifty  others,  in  an  attack  upon  the 
guards  at  St.  John's  gate,  while  Sergeant  Boyd  of 
Smith's  company,  with  a  smaller  body  of  picked  men, 
was  to  attack  the  guard-house,  put  the  guard  to  the 
sword,  and  then  join  Aston.  One  small  reserve  was 
to  set  the  jail  and  guard-house  on  fire,  and  another 
party  was  to  cut  down  the  sentinels  (who  on  account 
of  the  cold  would  probably  be  in  their  sentry-boxes), 
and  afterwards  to  act  as  a  reserve  to  Aston.  It  was 
calculated  that  they  could  be  in  possession  of  St. 
John's  gate  and  turn  the  cannon  there  on  the  city 
within  fifteen  minutes.  They  would  then  hold  St. 
John's  gate  until  the  arrival  of  their  comrades  from 
the  American  camp.  Should  they  fail  to  make  them 
selves  masters  of  the  gate,  they  were  to  scatter  in 
every  direction  and  to  leap  the  wall  wherever  they 
dared  to  take  the  risk.  In  the  confusion  it  was 
thought  a  good  many  would  be  able  to  effect  their 
escape. 

A  certain  John  Martin,  a  daring  and  active  fellow 
of  Lamb's  company,  proposed  to  carry  intelligence 
for  the  prisoners  to  the  Americans  without  the  walls 
in  order  to  secure  their  cooperation.  His  plan  was 
approved.  The  signal  for  Arnold's  troops  to  attack 
St.  John's  gate  was  to  be  the  burning  of  the  jail 
and  the  guard-house.  A  white  cap,  shirt  and  over 
alls  were  prepared  for  Martin,  but  he  appeared 
among  the  prisoners  in  the  yard  the  day  set  for  his 
attempt,  in  his  daily  dress.  Those  cognizant  of  the 
plot  encouraged  their  fellow  prisoners  to  prolong  their 
exercise  in  the  courtyard  to  the  last  moment,  under 


PRISONERS    OF   WAR  281 

pretense  of  keeping  warm— for  the  interior  of  the 
jail  was  often  too  cold  to  permit  the  prisoners  any 
comfort,  even  to  sleep.  At  locking-up  time  these 
knowing  ones  lagged  behind;  then  pushed  those  in 
the  front  so  effectually  as  to  block  up  the  gangway, 
Martin  remaining  in  the  rear.  This  took  place  at 
the  clanging  of  the  lock  of  the  great  front  door;  and 
was  concerted  to  afford  Martin  time  to  get  to  his  hid 
ing  place,  which  was  a  nook  in  the  doorway,  where 
he  had  time  to  put  on  his  white  cap,  coat  and  shoes. 
He  then  concealed  himself  under  the  snow  on  top  of 
the  bank  which  supported  the  wall  of  the  court. 
Happily  the  officer  who  brought  up  the  rear  made 
but  a  hasty  inspection. 

Martin  remained  in  his  hiding  place  until  seven 
or  eight  o'clock,  watching  for  his  opportunity.  As 
darkness  came  on,  he  mounted  the  wall  and  plunged 
into  the  snow  beneath,  from  whence  he  darted  to  the 
left  to  St.  John's  gate,  leaped  the  wall  of  the  Upper 
Town  and  fell  again  into  a  snow-drift.  He  attracted 
a  shot  from  a  distant  sentry,  who  missed  him.  As 
soon  as  his  body  came  into  contact  with  the  snow 
it  could  not  be  distinguished,  and  the  plucky  fellow 
easily  escaped.  His  absence  was  for  some  reason 
unnoticed  for  several  days  by  the  officers  in  charge 
of  the  prison. 

The  conspirators  had  little  reason  to  fear  the  old 
men  and  youths  who  formed  the  prison  guard— 
twenty-four  in  number.  They  joked  with  them  freely, 
pretending  to  learn  French;  and,  as  one  way  of  pro- 


282        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

curing  powder,  they  made  some  toy  cannon  out  of 
wood  and  paper  and  engaged  the  interest  of  the 
guards  by  amusing  sham  battles.  Then  they  begged 
a  little  powder  from  the  guard  to  try  their  cannon 
with.  This  ruse  was  successful,  and  the  Americans 
finally  secured  a  number  of  cartridges;  they  also 
procured,  through  some  of  their  friends  in  town,  six 
pistols,  some  more  powder  and  ball,  and  a  good 
supply  of  port-fire. 

Thomas  Gibson,*  a  young  medical  student,  a  ser 
geant  in  Hendricks's  company,  had  cheeks  which 
bloomed  like  roses  and  a  mind  whose  guile  was  be 
lied  by  the  innocence  of  his  face.  The  prisoners  were 
often  visited  by  charitable  persons  and  some  of  the 
nuns  of  religious  houses,  who  seldom  came  empty- 
handed.  One  day,  seeing  one  of  the  sisters  approach 
ing,  Gibson  was  put  to  bed  and  covered  up  to  the 
chin  with  bedclothes,  exposing  only  his  beautiful 
hair  and  his  red  cheeks,  which  seemed  burning  with 
fever.  The  nun,  overcome  with  sympathy  and  pity 
for  one  so  young  and  fair,  brought  to  such  a  strait, 
crossed  herself  and,  murmuring  a  paternoster,  poured 
out  the  contents  of  her  little  purse.  By  this  decep 
tion  the  prisoners  acquired  two  shillings,  which  were 
appropriated  to  purchasing  powder  from  the  guard. 
With  the  few  ounces  thus  obtained  they  manufactured 
fuses  with  which  to  fire  the  enemy's  cannon  at  St. 
John's  gate  when  it  should  be  won.  They  knew  the 
cannon  were  kept  loaded  and  that  boxes  of  ammuni 
tion  were  close  at  hand.  Lamb's  artillerymen  would 

*0f  Carlisle,  Pa. 


PRISONERS    OF   WAR  283 

know  how  to  use  them,  but  fuses  might  be  lacking. 
They  were  determined  not  to  overlook  anything,  and 
to  be  prepared  for  all  mischances. 

On  the  last  day  of  March  everything  was  in  readi 
ness.  But  there  was  one  difficulty  in  the  way,  here 
tofore  overlooked,  which  they  had  as  yet  been  unable 
to  overcome.  At  the  foot  of  the  cellar  stairs  in  the 
jail,  and  not  far  from  the  plank  door  which  they 
proposed  to  use  as  a  sally-port,  was  a  spring  which 
gushed  out  in  a  small  fountain-head  of  water.  The 
conduits  which  carried  the  water  from  the  spring 
were  blocked  with  ice  from  the  severity  of  the 
weather:  this  had  caused  an  overflow.  Persons 
rinsing  buckets  had  carelessly  thrown  slops  over  the 
floor,  and  a  body  of  ice  very  deep  and  solid  had 
formed  against  the  threshold  of  the  plank  door.  All 
sorts  of  plans  were  suggested  to  free  the  door,  for, 
of  course,  it  was  necessary  that  it  should  fall  instantly 
when  attacked  from  within.  One  suggested  melting 
the  impeding  ice  with  boiling  water,  but  the  sentry  in 
front  of  the  door  might  be  alarmed  by  the  water  trick 
ling  over  the  threshold,  or,  what  was  more  probable, 
the  water  might  freeze  as  soon  as  thrown  on.  Another 
would  have  picked  away  the  ice  with  a  tomahawk,  but 
this  was  objected  to,  as  the  noise  might  be  heard  by 
the  sentry.  Finally  it  was  decided  that  sixteen  of  their 
most  trusted  and  prudent  men  should  take  turns, 
two  by  two,  in  paring  away  the  ice  with  their  long 
knives.  They  estimated  that  this  might  be  done  by 
about  three  o'clock  in  the  morning,  the  men  working 
stealthily  and  patiently  all  night.  It  now  became 


284        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

necessary  to  inform  the  majority  of  the  prisoners  of 
the  general  feature  of  the  design,  but  the  details  it 
was  deemed  wise  to  suppress. 

The  longed-for  night— the  night  of  April  1— 
arrived,  but  the  goddess  of  fortune  or  that  Provi 
dence  which  was  to  decree  the  continuance  of  Canada 
in  the  British  Empire,  had  not  yet  filled  to  the  brim 
the  cup  of  bitterness  which  these  men  must  drink. 
Among  those  most  recently,  and  of  necessity,  let  into 
the  secret,  were  two  young  fellows  from  Connecticut, 
burning  for  an  opportunity  to  display  their  zeal  and 
wisdom.  Having  noticed  the  impediment  raised  by 
the  ice  at  the  threshold  of  the  cellar  door,  without 
consulting  any  of  their  leaders,  they  crept  down  into 
the  cellar  and  began  to  pick  away  at  the  ice  with  a 
tomahawk.  The  sentry  heard  them,  threatened  to 
fire,  and  the  guard  was  doubled. 

The  next  morning  a  severe  inquisition  took  place. 
Major  Prentice  and  twelve  musketeers  entered  the 
jail,  descended  into  the  cellar  and  discovered  the  work 
of  the  two  lads.  When  they  ascended  the  stairs  the 
prisoners  assured  the  officers  that  this  work  of  the  Con 
necticut  youngsters  was  entirely  without  the  knowledge 
of  the  majority  of  the  prisoners.  Major  Prentice  was 
about  to  withdraw,  when  one  of  the  prisoners,  one 
John  Hall,  who  was  a  deserter  from  the  British  at 
Boston  (although  it  was  not  then  known),  pushed 
forward  to  his  side  and,  touching  him  on  the  shoulder, 
said,  "Sir,  I  have  something  to  disclose."  Examined 
in  private,  Hall  confessed  the  plot  to  its  minutest 


PRISONERS    OF    WAR  285 

detail  and  named  each  person  primarily  connected 
with  it.  The  ringleaders  were  sent  for  and  examined, 
and  boldly  justified  the  attempt. 

At  2  o'clock  a  load  of  foot-irons  and  handcuffs 
was  brought  to  the  prison.  Some  of  the  bars  were 
twelve  feet  long  and  two  inches  in  diameter;  to  each 
of  these  ten  or  twelve  men  were  secured.  When  it 
proved  that  there  were  not  enough  for  all,  the  rest 
of  the  men  were  ordered  to  take  to  their  berths.  The 
doors  were  scarcely  closed  before  the  unhappy  cap 
tives  were  trying  to  get  out  of  their  irons.  Those 
who  had  small  hands,  by  compressing  their  palms, 
slipped  off  the  handcuffs  and  then  helped  the  others. 
They  then  tried  to  slip  their  feet  through  the  foot- 
irons,  but  some  of  the  prisoners'  heels  were  so  long 
that  they  could  not  do  so,  and,  as  the  bars  were 
beyond  their  combined  strength  to  carry,  they  suffered 
exceedingly.  The  frigid  weather  added  to  their  mis 
ery,  and  it  was  no  comfort  to  them  to  see  those  who 
had  shorter  heels  withdraw  their  feet  and  walk  about 
the  jail.  The  usual  inspection  of  the  prisoners  in 
creased  from  two  to  three  times  a  day,  and  on  the 
first  and  last  visits  the  blacksmith  examined  the  man 
acles  and  shackles  of  the  prisoners.  The  latter,  in 
their  turn,  again  stationed  sentries  to  warn  one  another 
of  the  coming  of  the  inspectors;  but  in  spite  of  these 
precautions  sometimes  the  clanging  of  the  door  was 
their  only  warning,  and  at  such  times  the  scampering 
of  the  men  to  find  and  resume  their  irons  was  divert 
ing  enough  to  make  them  forget  for  the  moment 
their  manifold  misfortunes.  The  blacksmith  was  an 


286        ARNOLD'S   EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

Irishman  of  a  feeling  heart,  and  probably  knew  some 
thing  of  the  real  situation,  and  indeed  there  is  some 
reason  to  think  that  the  Governor  did  also,  but 
humanely  winked  at  it. 

Towards  the  middle  of  April,  cut  short  in  their 
exercise,  their  only  resource  for  amusement  gambling 
for  their  wretched  rations,  scurvy  in  its  most  virulent 
form  made  its  appearance  among  the  prisoners.  More 
than  two  hundred  of  them  were  still  hardly  well  of  the 
smallpox,  of  which  a  number  had  died,  and  they  fell 
easy  victims  to  this  new  scourge.  They  were  attended 
by  Dr.  Maybin  of  the  garrison,  who  by  his  kindness 
won  their  gratitude  and  affection.  Upon  his  recom 
mendation,  the  prisoners  were  permitted  to  practice 
such  athletic  sports  as  their  manacles  would  permit. 
Those  who  were  indolent  became  a  prey  to  every  dis 
gusting  symptom  of  the  disease,  their  teeth  loosened 
and  dropped  out,  and  the  flesh  seemed  to  rot  upon 
their  bones.  The  fun  and  good  humor  which  had 
hitherto  supported  all,  gave  way  to  groans  and  de 
spair.  One  prisoner  named  Sias  went  mad.  The 
scant  clothing  of  the  prisoners,  worn  without  change 
for  four  months  of  imprisonment,  and  filthy  with  dirt 
and  vermin,  was  in  rags.  Some  of  the  men  were 
almost  as  naked  again  as  when  they  emerged  from  the 
Chaudiere  forests.  Daily  from  the  prison  the  sick 
and  helpless  were  borne  to  the  hospital,  and  daily 
from  thence  their  wasted  corpses  were  carried  to  the 
"dead  house"  and  tossed  among  the  frozen  bodies  of 
their  fellow-countrymen,  or  buried  in  shallow  and 
nameless  graves. 


PRISONERS    OF   WAR  287 

All  this  time  the  American  officers  had  not  been 
far  behind  the  men  in  their  efforts  to  regain  their 
liberty.  Captains  Thayer  and  Lockwood  early  se 
duced  a  sentinel,  and  through  him  received  some 
heavy  clubs  and  the  countersign.  They  were  to  pass 
out  of  the  chamber  window  on  the  fourth  story  of  the 
seminary,  and  to  reach  the  ground  by  a  rope  made 
out  of  their  blankets,  but  they  were  too  closely  watched 
and  their  plan  had  to  be  abandoned.  It  was  the 
26th  day  of  April  before  another  opportunity  offered, 
and  this  scheme  was  even  more  dangerous  to  put 
into  execution  than  the  first. 

Thayer,  after  two  months'  patient  labor,  cut  away 
with  a  knife  the  planks  which  were  spiked  on  a  door 
through  which  they  could  pass  by  a  dormer  window 
into  the  garret.  Thence  by  a  ladder  and  a  jump  of 
about  fourteen  feet  they  could  reach  the  yard,  where 
the  same  sentinel  they  had  won  over,  armed  with  a 
gun  and  clubs  for  the  prisoners,  was  to  meet  them. 
If  they  could  not  then  pass  four  sentinels  with  the 
countersign,  they  were  to  deal  with  them  as  best  they 
could,  and  push  for  the  sally  port.  From  the  grand 
battery  they  expected  to  leap  thirty  feet  into  the  snow, 
and  make  a  dash  for  the  American  camp  through  St. 
Eoque.  But,  with  the  ill  fortune  with  which  every 
effort  of  Arnold's  men  seemed  fated,  their  prepara 
tions  were  discovered  at  the  eleventh  hour  by  a  priest 
of  the  seminary,  who  reported  them  to  the  officer  of 
the  guard.  Thayer  was  accused,  and  unwilling  to 
implicate  any  of  his  fellow  officers,  was  carried  aboard 
the  armed  vessel  of  Captain  Laforce,  and  closely  kept 


288        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION   TO    QUEBEC 

in  the  hold,  both  handcuffed  and  ironed,  lying  at 
night  on  a  plank  on  the  truckling  of  a  cable  covered 
with  three  feet  of  ice.  The  deck  was  so  low  that  he 
was  obliged  constantly  to  stoop,  and  had  no  room  to 
walk  more  than  two  or  three  steps.  His  limbs  swelled, 
so  that  the  irons  had  to  be  cut  from  him  and  replaced 
with  larger  ones. 

A  few  days  afterwards,  Lockwood  and  Hanchett 
were  noticed  conversing  with  the  sentinel,  and  upon 
the  soldier  being  examined  and  making  confession, 
they  received  a  call  from  Major  Caldwell,  Colonel 
McLean,  and  other  officers,  by  whom  they  were  taken 
aboard  the  vessel  where  Thayer  was  confined,  and 
stowed  away  in  the  hold  with  him.  All  three  re 
mained  in  this  cruel  condition  until  the  siege  wa& 
raised  on  May  6,  when  they  were  brought  back  to 
their  fellow  officers.  The  sentinel  was  later  sent  to 
England  in  irons. 


CHAPTER   XVIII 
A  HOPELESS  SIEGE 

HILE  these  adventures  were  befalling  the 
prisoners  within  the  walls  of  Quebec,  the 
siege  obstinately  maintained  by  a  force 
too  weak  to  assume  the  offensive  dragged 
uneventfully  on.  Arnold 's  wound  slowly 
but  steadily  improved,  and  before  February  was  far 
advanced  he  was  able  to  hobble  about  his  room  with 
the  aid  of  a  cane  or  a  crutch.  By  the  end  of  the 
month  he  could  go  out-of-doors,  and  give  the  encour 
agement  of  his  actual  physical  presence  to  the  little 
army  which  his  indomitable  spirit,  exerted  from  a  bed 
of  suffering  and  helplessness,  had  held  sternly  to  its 
duty  through  the  weeks  of  discouragement  and  grief 
which  followed  the  fatal  New  Year's  eve  assault.  As 
he  passed  among  the  groups  of  ragged  and  shivering 
soldiers  they  greeted  him  with  cheers  and  congratu 
lations,  hailing  him  by  his  new  title  of  General;  for 
news  had  recently  reached  the  camp  that  Congress, 
in  recognition  of  his  services  in  the  march  through 
the  wilderness  and  the  siege  of  Quebec,  had  voted 
him  the  commission  of  a  brigadier-general. 

The  good  will  of  the  men,  which  Arnold  seems  to 
have  possessed,  must  have  been  grateful  to  his  ardent 
nature,  always  sensitive  to  the  affection  or  enmity 

26  289 


290        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

of  those  about  him;  but  he  did  not  find  an  equally 
responsive  feeling  among  some  of  his  subordinate 
officers.  Captain  Hanchett  and  the  other  officers  of 
his  own  detachment  with  whom  he  had  quarreled 
were  now  prisoners  in  Quebec,  but  there  were  those 
among  the  besiegers  who  had  sympathized  with  them, 
or  who,  as  members  of  Montgomery's  expedition,  did 
not  relish  the  idea  of  taking  orders  from  the  young 
Connecticut  militia  officer  whom  they  considered  in 
no  way  their  superior,  either  in  experience  or  native 
ability.  One  of  the  most  troublesome  of  these  was 
Major  Brown,  whom  the  disaffected  companies  of 
Arnold's  detachment  had  pitched  upon  for  their 
commander  if  they  could  have  persuaded  Montgomery 
to  form  them  into  an  independent  battalion.  Major 
Brown  was  a  western  Massachusetts  man,  a  friend 
and  a  comrade-in-arms  of  that  Colonel  Easton  who, 
as  the  reader  will  remember,  had  been  kicked  by 
Arnold  from  his  room  at  Crown  Point,  and  had,  there 
fore,  little  reason  to  be  especially  well  disposed  toward 
his  fiery  commanding  officer.  The  friction  between 
the  two  men  began  early,  and  seems  never  to  have 
abated  so  long  as  they  remained  in  close  and  daily 
association.  As  early  as  the  1st  of  February  we  find 
Arnold  thus  expressing  himself  in  a  letter  to  John 
Hancock,  president  of  the  Continental  Congress  in 
Philadelphia : 

Major  John  Brown,  who  came  down  with  General  Mont 
gomery  with  one  hundred  and  sixty  men  collected  from 
different  regiments,  now  assumes  and  insists  on  the  title  of 
Colonel,  which  he  says  the  General  promised  him  at  Mont- 


A   HOPELESS    SIEGE  291 

real.  Some  time  before  his  death,  when  Major  Brown 
wrote  to  remind  him  of  his  promise,  the  General  handed 
me  his  letter,  and  told  me  at  the  same  time,  as  Colonel 
Easton  and  Major  Brown  were  publicly  impeached  with 
plundering  the  officers'  baggage  taken  at  Sorel,  contrary  to 
articles  of  capitulation,  and  to  the  great  scandal  of  the 
American  army,  he  could  not  in  conscience  or  honor  pro 
mote  him  (Major  Brown)  until  those  matters  were  cleared 
up.  He  then  sent  for  Major  Brown  and  told  him  his  senti 
ments  in  the  matter  very  freely,  after  which  I  heard  of  no 
further  application  for  promotion.  This  transaction,  Colonel 
Campbell,  Major  Duboys,  and  several  gentlemen  were  know 
ing  to.  As  Colonel  Easton  and  Major  Brown  have  doubt 
less  a  sufficient  store  of  modest  merit  to  apply  to  the  Con 
tinental  Congress  for  promotion,  I  think  it  my  duty  to  say 
the  charge  before  mentioned  is  the  public  topic  of  conver 
sation  at  Montreal,  and  among  the  officers  of  the  army  in 
general,  and  as  such  conduct  is  unbecoming  the  character 
of  gentlemen,  or  soldiers,  I  believe  it  would  give  great  dis 
gust  to  the  army  in  general  if  those  gentlemen  were  pro 
moted  before  those  matters  were  cleared  up.  The  contents 
of  the  enclosed  letter  I  do  not  wish  to  be  kept  from  the 
gentlemen  mentioned  therein;  the  public  interest  is  my 
motive  for  writing. 

B.   ARNOLD. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  evident  that  Major  Brown 
believed  that  Arnold  was  not  using  him  fairly,  and 
suspected  that  his  general's  enmity  might  go  so  far 
as  to  compass  the  deliberate  sacrifice  of  his  life, 
through  exposure  to  especial  and  unnecessary  perils. 
Some  weeks  after  this  letter  of  Arnold's  had  been 
dispatched  to  Philadelphia— on  the  15th  of  March, 


292        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

to   be   precise — Brown   wrote   to   his   wife    in    Pitts- 
field: 

Genl.  Arnold  and  I  do  not  agree  very  well — I  expect 
another  storm  soon;  suppose  I  must  be  a  Uriah.  We  had 
an  alarm  yesterday.  The  enemy  made  a  sally  on  our  work 
ing  party,  it  was  said  with  five  hundred  men.  Genl.  Arnold 
immediately  ordered  me,  being  on  the  advanced  post,  to  at 
tack  them  with  my  detachment,  which  consists  of  about 
200,  more  than  half  of  which  were  sick  in  hospital.  I  ac 
cordingly  marched  against  the  Enemy,  who  had  retired  into 
the  port  too  soon  for  me  to  attack  them.  I  expect  to  be 
punished  for  Disobedience  of  orders  next;  on  the  whole  we 
are  in  an  indifferent  situation  at  present.  I  suppose  all 
letters  are  broken  open  before  they  reach  the  Colonies,  but 
as  this  goes  by  a  friend  it  will  come  safe.  I  am  solicited 
to  stay  another  year  as  Lt.  Colonel,  but  have  refused — shall 
I  consent? 

From  this  and  other  letters  bearing  on  the  same 
question,  it  is  not  difficult  to  guess  at  the  origin  of 
the  dissension  among  Arnold's  officers.  It  becomes 
apparent  that  one  serious  grievance  which  both  Han- 
chett  and  Brown  had  against  Arnold  was  what  they 
believed,  or  pretended  to  believe,  was  his  intention 
to  rid  himself  of  them  by  exposing  them  to  the  enemy. 
In  the  letter  of  Brown  just  quoted  he  writes  that  he 
"must  be  a  Uriah."  Hanchett's  reluctance  to  do  the 
duty  assigned  to  him  has  already  sufficiently  appeared. 
It  is  certain,  however,  that  other  officers  were  ready 
and  eager  to  do  the  duty  to  which  Hanchett  took 
exception,  while  it  is  plain,  from  Montgomery's  letter 
to  Schuyler,  in  which  he  alludes  to  this  disagreement, 


A   HOPELESS    SIEGE  293 

that  he  sympathized  with  Arnold  and  disapproved 
heartily  of  the  course  pursued  by  Hanchett.  In  view 
of  these  facts,  which  must  have  been  well  known  to 
Congress,  which  was  also  aware  of  the  unanswered 
charge  of  peculation  which  lay  against  Easton  and 
Brown,  it  must  strike  the  reader  as  strange  that  within 
six  weeks  of  Arnold's  letter  to  John  Hancock,  Brown 
wrote  to  his  wife,  confidentially,  that  he  was  repelling 
offers  of  promotion.  There  were  evidently  influences 
at  work  in  Congress  which  were,  to  say  the  least, 
openly  friendly  to  those  whom  Arnold  considered  with 
justice  his  enemies.  What  they  were  cannot  be 
clearly  seen,  though  it  would  be  strange  if  so  many 
commissioned  and  field  officers  could  not  enlist  some 
weighty  support  in  behalf  of  their  own  side  of  the 
case.  Aaron  Burr,  too,  it  may  be  added,  had  con 
ceived  a  strong  dislike  for  Arnold  before  the  cam 
paign  was  over.  Tact,  apparently,  was  not  one  of 
the  new  general's  virtues. 

May  we  not  find  in  these  controversies  the  reason 
why  Arnold  thought  it  necessary  to  lead  in  person 
the  assaulting  column  at  Sault  au  Matelot!  Can  we 
not  see  already  the  origin  of  that  coalition  of  enemies 
which  is  said  to  have  been  responsible  for  the  injus 
tice  and  ingratitude  with  which  Arnold  in  after  years 
claimed  to  have  been  treated,  and  which  helped  to 
poison  his  spirit  till  it  sickened,  through  treason,  and 
died  within  him?  Some  day,  let  us  hope,  the  evi 
dence  will  be  found  whereby  the  scales  of  historical 
justice  may  weigh  out  and  establish  forever  the 


294        ARNOLD'S   EXPEDITION   TO    QUEBEC 

truth   as   between   Arnold   and   these    early    and   in 
veterate  enemies. 

Harassed  by  jealousies  among  his  subordinates 
and  uneasy  at  the  weakness  of  his  force,  Arnold 
nevertheless  seems  never  to  have  considered  for  a 
moment  the  abandonment  of  the  enterprise.  Indeed 
we  find  him  writing  hopefully  to  Washington  in  Feb 
ruary:  "The  repeated  successes  of  our  raw,  undisci 
plined  troops  over  the  flower  of  the  British  army,  the 
many  unexpected  and  remarkable  occurrences  in  our 
favor,  are  plain  proofs  of  the  overruling  hand  of 
Providence,  and  justly  demand  our  warmest  gratitude 
to  Heaven,  which  I  make  no  doubt  will  crown  our 
virtuous  efforts  with  success." 

But  his  letters  to  Congress  constantly  appealed  for 
reinforcements  sufficient  to  put  his  army  on  something 
like  an  equality  with  the  force  it  was  besieging,  and 
begged  no  less  persistently  that  some  general  of 
greater  experience  and  abilities  than  he  could  pretend 
to  should  be  sent  to  assume  command  before  Quebec. 
The  difficulties  and  embarrassment  of  his  position  had 
begun  to  daunt  even  his  sanguine  spirit. 

The  physical  condition  of  the  patriot  soldiers  was 
increasingly  bad.  Smallpox  still  ravaged  the  camp, 
and  the  field  hospital  between  Sillery  and  Wolfe's 
Cove  was  always  full  of  its  victims.  At  one  time 
no  less  than  fifty— nearly  10  per  cent  of  the  whole 
force— were  sick  with  the  malady.  The  discovery  of 
vaccination  had  not  been  made  at  this  time,  and  in 
oculation  was  forbidden  in  the  army,  but  so  great 


A   HOPELESS    SIEGE  295 

was  the  dread  of  the  loathsome  disease  that  many 
inoculated  themselves,  secretly,  by  pricking  in  the 
poisonous  matter  under  their  finger-nails.  Some  reck 
less  and  desperate  men  did  this  in  order  to  escape 
in  the  hospital  the  severe  duty  which  was  exacted 
from  them  in  camp. 

The  suffering  of  the  troops— or  ' '  Congreganists, " 
as  the  French- Canadians  now  called  them— from  hun 
ger,  was  hardly  less  than  that  of  the  prisoners  within 
the  city.  At  Three  Rivers  they  begged  for  food  from 
door  to  door,  and  the  sight  of  their  misery  won  succor 
even  from  the  loyalists.  In  spite  of  their  tempta 
tions,  pillage  or  riot  was  promptly  checked  by  the 
officers,  and  it  is  doubtful  if  a  hostile  army  ever 
restrained  its  passions  on  foreign  soil  more  success 
fully. 

Though  they  could  have  had  little  to  fear  from 
an  enemy  so  weak  in  numbers  and  in  the  physical 
strength  of  its  units,  the  garrison  did  not  a  whit  relax 
their  vigilance;  fireballs  were  lighted  at  one  o'clock 
and  kept  burning  on  the  angles  of  the  bastions  till 
three  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  were  often  thrown 
out  by  mortars.  Lanterns  suspended  from  long  poles 
were  extended  over  the  ditch,  and  lighted  it  so  well 
that  even  a  dog  might  have  been  seen  at  the  bottom 
of  it.  By  the  9th  of  March  they  had  one  hundred 
and  fourteen  guns  mounted,  not  counting  any  cannon 
less  than  six-pounders,  nor  mortars,  nor  cohorns. 
Twice  they  sallied  in  force,  as  the  Americans  thought, 
to  capture  the  cannon  near  the  General  Hospital;  in 


296        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

reality  to  enable  the  people  to  gather  firewood  in 
their  rear.  They  retired  as  the  Americans  boldly 
advanced  to  meet  them.  The  British  had  one  real 
cause  of  anxiety— should  the  winter  continue  so  severe, 
the  River  St.  Lawrence  might  freeze  from  shore  to 
shore.  To  guard  even  against  this,  they  replaced 
some  of  the  guns  on  the  shipping  in  the  cul-de-sac, 
mounted  guns  on  the  wharves,  cut  a  trench  to  clear 
water  at  Pres  de  Ville,  and  destroyed  the  houses  on 
both  sides  of  Sault  au  Matelot  street,  lest  they  might 
again  furnish  cover  for  the  enemy.  It  might  at  least 
have  flattered  the  vanity  of  Arnold  and  his  half- 
starved  and  shivering  battalions  that  Carleton  showed 
such  cautious  respect  for  them,  even  in  the  time  of 
their  greatest  feebleness  and  discouragement. 

Early  in  March  the  reinforcements  which  Congress 
had  despatched  began  to  arrive  in  camp,  a  regiment 
of  three  hundred  and  forty  men  from  Pennsylvania 
being  the  first.  These  men  wore  the  uniforms  which 
Congress  had  prescribed— brown  with  buff  facings, 
with  mittens,  knapsacks,  and  haversacks  of  Russian 
duck;  their  stockings  were  protected  by  leggings,  and 
they  carried  firelocks,  wooden  canteens,  and  toma 
hawks.  On  January  23  the  leading  company  of  this 
regiment  under  Captain  Jonathan  Jones  had  begun  at 
Philadelphia  its  long  march  of  six  hundred  miles  in 
the  dead  of  winter.  Hastening  forward  on  foot,  or  on 
sleds  where  the  patriotism  of  the  country  through 
which  they  passed  would  furnish  them,  they  crossed 
the  Delaware  on  the  ice,  took  the  eastern  route,  and 
reached  Albany  in  eleven  days.  Thence  up  the  Hud- 


A   HOPELESS    SIEGE  297 

son,  and  across  country,  they  made  their  way  to 
Fort  George,  and  on  the  ice  of  the  lake,  again,  to 
Ticonderoga.  There  were  no  roads  on  either  side  of 
Lake  Champlain.  They  left  the  last  of  their  sleds 
at  Ticonderoga,  and  made  the  rest  of  the  journey  with 
their  provisions  on  their  backs,  over  snow  and  ice, 
up  Lake  Champlain  and  the  Sorel  Eiver  to  St.  John's. 
Though  their  provisions  did  not  fail  them,  the  country 
was  almost  as  wild  and  desolate  as  that  of  the  Upper 
Kennebec,  and  their  sufferings  from  exposure  were 
hardly  less  than  those  of  Arnold's  men.  Their  arms, 
accoutrements,  and  dress  when  they  arrived  at  La 
Prairie,  eighteen  miles  from  St.  John's,  could  not 
have  been  in  much  worse  condition.  They  arrived  at 
Montreal  frost-bitten,  footsore  and  exhausted,  with 
spirits  hardly  less  depressed  than  those  of  the  vet 
erans  to  whose  assistance  they  had  come.  After  a 
fortnight's  rest  at  Montreal,  they  pushed  on  to  join 
Arnold. 

From  this  time  reinforcements  constantly  made 
their  appearance  from  New  England,  New  York,  New 
Jersey,  and  even  further  south.  But  they  came  in 
small  bodies,  and  so  complete  was  the  wreck  of 
Montgomery's  and  Arnold's  army  that  for  some  time 
the  fresh  arrivals  only  closed  up  the  gaps  made  by 
the  smallpox  and  the  hardships  to  which  the  veterans 
of  the  campaign  had  been  exposed. 

On  March  14  another  flag  of  truce  was  sent  to 
the  city,  but  it  was  met  as  all  the  others  had  been. 
1  'No  flag  will  be  received,"  said  the  guard,  " unless  it 

27 


298        ARNOLD'S   EXPEDITION   TO    QUEBEC 

comes  to  implore  the  mercy  of  the  King."  The  next 
day  the  garrison  planted  on  the  walls  near  St.  John's 
gate  a  great  wooden  horse,  with  a  bundle  of  hay 
before  it,  and  the  inscription,  "When  this  horse  has 
eaten  this  bunch  of  hay  we  will  surrender."  Further 
to  emphasize  their  vigilance  and  their  defiance  of  the 
besiegers,  the  British  erected  on  Cape  Diamond  a 
post  thirty  feet  high  with  a  kind  of  sentry,  or  look 
out,  box  thereon,  from  which  the  officers,  with  their 
glasses,  could  see  St.  Foy  church  and  the  stretch  of 
road  leading  to  the  city,  and  even  the  Holland  House 
and  bodies  of  troops  moving  in  its  vicinity.  But 
the  plains  beyond  Gallows  Hill  were  still  hidden 
from  view.  There,  even  in  daylight,  the  Americans 
might  conceal  a  great  number  of  men.  Therefore 
the  British,  though  aware  that  reinforcements  were 
strengthening  the  provincials,  could  form  no  ac 
curate  estimate  of  the  number  of  fresh  troops  that 
had  arrived. 

On  the  17th  of  March  the  Irishmen  in  the  Amer 
ican  army,  who  were  pretty  numerous,  saw  to  it  that 
St.  Patrick's  day  did  not  pass  unhonored.  Not  even 
cold  and  hunger  could  dampen  their  boisterous  spirits, 
and  they  set  out  to  march  about  the  country,  carry 
ing  muskets  and  sabers,  each  with  a  sprig  of  fir  in 
his  cap,  the  officers  wearing  cockades  in  addition.  A 
drum  and  fife  corps  led  the  march,  and  for  a  flag  a 
ragged  silk  handkerchief  was  tied  to  the  top  of  a  fir 
tree  above  two  crossed  bayonets.  They  marched  to 
the  nunnery  at  Three  Rivers,  which  they  serenaded 
and  cheered;  then  they  returned  to  camp,  pausing 


A   HOPELESS    SIEGE  299 

before  the  houses  of  royalist  adherents  to  swear  and 
be  sworn  at,  and  before  the  houses  of  well-dis 
posed  Canadians  to  raise  a  lusty  cheer.  The  proces 
sion  ended  at  the  residence  of  one  M.  Laframboise, 
who  either  from  sympathy  with  the  cause  or  from 
motives  of  policy,  caused  two  demijohns  of  rum  to 
be  given  to  the  rank  and  file,  while  he  regaled  the 
officers  on  more  expensive  liquors. 

On  March  25,  information  was  received  that  Cana 
dian  loyalists  to  the  number  of  some  three  hundred 
and  fifty  were  assembling  under  the  leadership  of 
Monsieur  Beaujeu,  a  former  captain  in  the  Canadian 
militia,  in  the  parishes  to  the  south  of  Quebec,  intend 
ing  to  throw  themselves  into  the  city  for  its  relief 
by  crossing  the  St.  Lawrence  from  the  southern  shore 
near  Point  Levi.  Measures  were  at  once  taken  to 
offer  check  to  this  move.  A  scouting  party  of  fifty 
men  advanced  by  Beaujeu  to  feel  the  way  for  his  main 
body  and  led  by  Sieur  Couillard  and  a  Mr.  Bailly,  a 
priest,  having  advanced  as  far  as  the  parish  of  St. 
Pierre,  were  surrounded  in  a  house  by  a  large  party 
of  rebel  Canadians,  with  one  hundred  and  fifty  Amer 
icans,  under  Major  Dubois,  who  had  been  detached 
from  the  camp  at  Quebec.  The  royalists,  in  spite  of 
the  disparity  of  their  numbers,  showed  fight,  but  after 
two  of  their  party  had  been  killed  and  ten  wounded, 
surrendered.  In  this  affair  it  is  said  that  fathers 
fought  against  sons  and  sons  against  fathers,  and  so 
bitter  was  the  feeling  of  the  Canadians  that,  but  for 
the  interference  of  the  Americans,  the  prisoners  would 
have  been  massacred  even  after  the  surrender.  The 


300        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

effect  of  the  reverse  was  such  that  Captain  Beaujeu 
was  obliged  to  disband  his  levies  and  go  into  hiding 
to  escape  capture. 

During  the  closing  days  of  the  month,  a  number 
of  cannon,  some  as  large  as  twenty-four  pounders, 
and  a  plentiful  supply  of  ammunition  arrived  from 
General  Wooster,  whom  Montgomery  had  left  in  com 
mand  at  Montreal.  Close  behind  this  welcome  offer 
ing  came  the  General  himself.  He  had  left  Montreal  in 
charge  of  one  Moses  Hazen,  a  renegade  officer  of  his 
Majesty's  service,  who  had  been  given  a  commission 
in  the  Continental  army,  and  as  Arnold's  superior 
officer  at  once  assumed  direction  of  the  army  and  its 
operations.  It  was  the  1st  day  of  April  when  he 
reached  the  camp,  and  on  that  very  night  the  sig 
nals,  which  by  arrangement,  as  the  reader  will  re 
member,  the  prisoners  in  the  Dauphin  jail  were  to 
display  if  their  plan  succeeded,  were  seen  to  blaze  up 
behind  the  ramparts  of  the  Upper  Town. 

Arnold,  now  able  to  ride  his  horse,  wished  to 
advance  at  once  to  their  support,  but  Wooster  refused 
his  assent,  either  from  the  cautious  temper  which  be 
came  his  age,  or  because  he  suspected  some  trap. 
Fortune,  for  once,  had  favored  the  Americans  by  the 
opportune  arrival  and  decision  of  Wooster,  for  Gov 
ernor  Carleton,  informed  by  the  deserter  Hall  of  the 
prearranged  signals,  had  been  wily  enough  to  organize 
a  sham  combat,  to  build  bonfires  to  imitate  the  signal 
of  burning  buildings,  and  even  to  counterfeit  the  suc 
cess  of  the  prisoners  by  lusty  cheers  at  St.  John's 


o 


L 


A    HOPELESS    SIEGE  301 

gate,  while  his  troops  were  massed  to  receive  the 
unsuspecting  rebels,  and  his  cannon,  loaded  with 
grape  and  canister,  were  trained  on  the  ground  over 
which  they  must  approach.  To  Wooster's  caution 
alone  was  owing  the  failure  of  this  grim  April  Fool's 
day  joke. 

A  few  days  later  Arnold,  his  leg  again  crippled  by  a 
fall  from  his  horse,  and  hurt  because  General  Wooster 
did  not  show  him  what  he  thought  proper  considera 
tion,  asked  to  be  relieved,  and  retired  on  the  12th  of 
April  to  Montreal,  to  convalesce.  He  wrote  home  in 
explanation  of  this  action,  "Had  I  been  able  to  take 
any  active  part,  I  should,  by  no  means,  have  left 
camp,  but  as  General  Wooster  did  not  think  proper 
to  consult  me,  I  am  convinced  I  shall  be  more  use 
ful  here  than  in  camp,  and  he  very  readily  granted 
me  leave  of  absence." 

This  was  the  ineffectual  end  of  all  Arnold's  gal 
lant  hopes  and  patriotic  endeavors  for  the  reduction 
of  the  fortress  of  Quebec  and  the  conquest  of  Canada. 
He  took  no  further  part  in  the  siege  of  the  city,  and 
was  forced  in  inactivity  to  see  the  enterprise  for 
which  he  and  his  brave  comrades  had  sacrificed  and 
suffered  so  much,  crumble  day  by  day  into  more 
hopeless  disaster.  He  reached  Montreal,  however,  in 
time  to  welcome  the  arrival  of  a  committee  appointed 
by  Congress  to  engage  in  friendly  intercession  and 
conciliation  with  those  Canadians  who  still  held  alle 
giance  to  the  King  and  considered  the  colonial  troops 
enemies  and  invaders.  Benjamin  Franklin,  Samuel 


302        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

Chase  and  Charles  Carroll  of  Carrollton  composed  the 
committee,  which  was  accompanied  by  the  Most  Rev 
erend  John  Carroll,  Archbishop  of  Baltimore,  who 
was  expected  to  add  weight  to  its  appeal  to  the  French 
Roman  Catholics. 

The  task  of  receiving  these  distinguished  men  in 
a  manner  calculated  to  flatter  them  and  impress  the 
Canadian  public  was  one  which  Arnold  doubtless 
found  quite  to  his  taste.  The  committee  were  at 
once  conducted  to  his  headquarters,  the  imposing 
mansion  of  the  Canadian  rebel,  Thomas  Walker, 
where  they  were  received,  as  Carroll  tells  us,  in  a 
most  polite  and  friendly  manner  by  the  General  and 
"a  genteel  company  of  ladies  and  gentlemen  who  had 
assembled"  there. 

But  the  envoys  arrived  too  late  to  be  of  any  real 
service  to  the  cause  they  represented.  The  lines  were 
already  strictly  drawn,  and  as  spring  approached  the 
inevitable  collapse  of  the  siege  of  Quebec  began  to  be 
foreseen  by  rebel  sympathizers  as  well  as  by  loyalists 
and  those  shrewd  trimmers  who  were  prepared  to 
follow  either  flag  to  victory.  Franklin,  who  was  past 
seventy  years  of  age,  suffered  so  much  from  exposure 
on  the  journey  that  after  ten  days  spent  at  Mon 
treal  he  was  obliged  to  return.  The  others  made  a 
longer  stay,  but  had  no  substantial  results  to  show 
for  their  labors. 

Meanwhile  the  troops  before  Quebec,  now  increased 
to  about  two  thousand  effectives,  with  several  hun 
dred  men  still  on  the  sick  list,  began  with  the  advent 


A   HOPELESS    SIEGE  303 

of  spring  to  make  some  efforts  to  throw  off  the 
inertia  which  defeat,  sickness  and  cold  had  bred 
within  them.  They  even  became  once  more  aggres 
sive.  During  the  month  of  April,  although  obliged 
to  work  on  snow-shoes  part  of  the  time, — for  even 
as  late  as  the  3d  of  May  snow  covered  the  ground— 
they  erected  and  opened  a  battery  of  three  twelve- 
pounders  and  one  eight-inch  howitzer  at  Point  Levi, 
and  another  on  a  slight  elevation  known  as  "Les 
Buttes  a  Neveu,"  on  the  Heights  of  Abraham  oppo 
site  St.  Louis  gate,  within  four  hundred  yards  of 
the  walls.  This  battery  mounted  one  twenty-four 
pounder,  four  twelve-pounders,  two  six-pounders  and 
two  howitzers.  A  third  battery  of  two  guns,  called 
11  Smith's,"  on  a  point  of  land  near  the  mouth  of  the 
St.  Charles,  upon  the  opposite  bank  to  the  city,  had 
been  playing  intermittently  and  abortively  since  the 
22d  of  January.  Still,  even  the  heavier  ordnance 
they  now  possessed  made  no  impression  on  the  mas 
sive  walls  of  the  city— their  red-hot  shots  did  no 
perceptible  damage— and  at  length  the  continuous 
and  accurate  fire  of  the  garrison  compelled  them 
to  dismantle  their  batteries  and  drag  off  their  guns. 
They  had  hit  and  injured  some  of  the  shipping,  and 
wounded  some  of  those  on  board,  but  doubtless  did 
not  then  know  that  they  had  done  so. 

The  utter  failure  of  the  artillery  to  produce  any 
results  whatever  was  a  source  of  deep  discourage 
ment  to  the  Americans.  The  project  of  another  as 
sault  upon  the  fortifications  of  the  town  seems  never 
to  have  been  seriously  entertained,  but  no  little  reli- 


304        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

ance  had  been  placed  upon  the  ability  of  the  heavier 
ordnance  supplied  by  General  Wooster  to  batter  a 
breach  in  the  defenses,  and  subject  the  city  to  all 
the  terrors  of  an  active  bombardment.  Disappointed 
in  this  expectation,  the  enthusiasm  of  the  men  flagged 
once  more,  and  only  the  promise  of  fresh  reinforce 
ments  kept  hope  alive  and  justified  the  stubborn 
prolongation  of  the  siege. 

These  reinforcements  were  looked  for  from  various 
quarters.  Washington  had  brought  the  investment  of 
Boston  to  a  victorious  issue  on  the  17th  of  March, 
and  a  part  of  his  army  was  therefore  available  for 
service  in  Canada.  The  regiments  of  Colonels  Pat- 
erson,  Bond,  Graham,  and  Poor  were  immediately 
ordered  to  Quebec,  by  way  of  the  Hudson  River  and 
Lake  Champlain.  All  told,  these  regiments  numbered 
only  about  eleven  hundred  men.  A  considerable  force 
had  also  been  collected  at  Fort  George  under  General 
Schuyler,  who  had  recovered  from  his  illness  of  the 
previous  year,  and  waited  only  for  the  lakes  to  be 
clear  of  ice  in  order  to  commence  the  march  to 
Quebec.  This  detachment  included  six  companies  of 
Connecticut  troops,  two  companies  of  the  1st  Penn 
sylvania  regiment,  three  companies  of  New  Jersey 
troops,  and  two  companies  of  Van  Schaick's  from 
New  York.  There  were  two  more  companies  of  New 
Jersey  troops  about  thirty-five  miles  below  Crown 
Point,  on  their  way  to  Canada.  The  rest  of  the  New 
Jersey  regiment  had  crossed  the  boundary.  Five 
companies  of  the  2d  Pennsylvania  regiment  were  at 
Fort  Edward,  waiting  for  the  lake  to  open,  and  two 


A   HOPELESS    SIEGE  305 

companies  of  the  1st  Pennsylvania  were  on  their  way 
from  New  York. 

It  was  evident  that  Quebec  was  a  prize  for  which 
the  large  fleet  of  reinforcements  already  despatched 
from  England,  and  the  new  army  of  the  Americans 
were  to  race.  Unfortunately  for  the  latter,  it  was 
now  the  worst  possible  season  of  the  year  for  its 
purposes.  The  lakes  and  rivers  were  not  yet  open 
for  navigation,  while  the  ice,  which  still  covered 
them,  had  grown  too  thin  and  rotten  to  bear  the 
weight  of  an  army  in  safety.  On  land  the  roads 
were  rendered  impassable  by  the  slush  and  mud 
which  are  the  inevitable  accompaniments  of  a  wan 
ing  northern  winter.  Not  only  days,  but  weeks,  were 
thus  wasted  in  tedious  and  exasperating  delays,  until 
it  became  almost  a  certainty  that  the  St.  Lawrence 
would  offer  a  clear  road  to  the  English  ships,  long 
before  Schuyler  could  possibly  appear  before  Quebec. 

On  the  1st  of  May,  General  John  Thomas,  the 
"hero  of  Dorchester  Heights,"  who  had  been  dis 
patched  to  relieve  Wooster,  arrived  in  camp.  Congress 
had  appointed  General  Charles  Lee  to  this  duty  earlier 
in  the  season,  but  that  erratic  and  untrustworthy  offi 
cer—a  traitor  at  heart,  as  recent  discoveries  have 
proved— had  delayed  his  departure  on  the  plea  of  ill 
health,  so  long  that  in  the  end  he  was  transferred  to 
the  Southern  Department,  and  the  command  assigned 
to  a  more  honorable  and  patriotic  soldier.  When 
Thomas  arrived  before  Quebec,  he  found  the  Conti 
nental  army  shrunken  to  about  nineteen  hundred 


306        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

men,  of  whom  not  much  more  than  one  thousand 
were  fit  for  duty ;  furthermore  nearly  one-third  of  that 
number  were  preparing  to  depart,  as  their  enlist 
ment  had  expired  on  the  15th  day  of  April.  There 
were  only  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  of  powder 
and  six  days'  rations  in  the  encampment,  no  in 
trenching  tools  and  no  competent  engineers.  The 
Canadians  would  no  longer  accept  the  paper  money  of 
Congress;  their  priests  refused  to  confess  those  who 
joined  the  rebel  ranks,  and  although  the  Yankees  tried 
to  checkmate  them  by  hiring  one  Lotbiniere,  a  priest, 
for  fifteen  hundred  livres  per  annum  and  the  promise 
to  make  him  a  bishop  as  soon  as  Quebec  was  taken, 
to  confess  all  who  applied  to  him,  the  refusal  of 
priestly  sanction  and  comfort  continued  a  powerful 
factor  in  the  struggle.  Owing  to  the  more  apparent 
prospect  of  British  success,  the  Canadians  had  experi 
enced  plainly  a  change  of  heart,  while  the  indifferent 
success  of  their  plans  and  hopes  bred  in  the  Americans 
a  bitterness  which  made  them  less  careful  to  preserve 
their  attitude  of  friendship  and  conciliation.  Spring 
was  rapidly  ripening  the  seeds  of  discontent  and  im 
patience  which  the  occupation  of  the  country  by  the 
Americans  had  gradually  sown  during  the  winter.  A 
general  rising  of  the  Canadians  might  be  expected, 
should  the  anticipated  reinforcements  from  England 
arrive. 


CHAPTER   XIX 
THE  CAMPAIGN  FAILS 

UCH  were  the  gloomy  prospects  which 
General  Thomas  found  awaiting  him.  In 
deed  it  seemed  a  foregone  conclusion  that 
his  talents  and  energies  could  only  find 
employment  in  directing  a  retreat  from  a 
position  fast  becoming  untenable.  Before  yielding  to 
the  inevitable,  however,  the  besiegers  determined  to 
strike  one  more  blow  at  the  city  which  had  so  calmly 
defied  their  hostility.  The  river  was  by  this  time  prac 
tically  clear  of  ice,  and  it  was  decided  to  prepare  and 
launch  a  fire-ship,  which  should  be  carried  by  wind  or 
tide  into  the  cul-de-sac  at  the  Lower  Town,  to  the  de 
struction  of  all  the  shipping  which  lay  there.  It  was 
also  thought  possible  that  the  fire  might  spread  to  the 
houses  of  the  Lower  Town,  thus  inflicting  additional 
damage  on  the  enemy.  Of  this  plan,  as  indeed  of  most 
of  the  other  counsels  of  the  Americans,  Carleton  re 
ceived  early  and  circumstantial  information  from  a 
deserter. 

On  May  3  the  sentries  on  the  walls  of  Quebec 
descried  a  ship  approaching  the  city  from  below, 
and  the  news  was  quickly  spread  through  the  town. 
The  vessel  was  at  once  hailed  as  the  first  of  the  fleet 
despatched  from  England,  for  although  the  wind  and 

307 


308        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

tide  were  both  in  the  stranger's  favor,  it  did  not  oc 
cur  to  the  citizens  or  the  soldiers  that  a  fire-ship  would 
come  except  from  above  the  town,  borne  on  the  cur 
rent  of  the  river.  The  ramparts  of  the  Upper  Town 
and  the  wharves  of  the  Lower  Town  were  soon  thick 
with  happy  townspeople  shouting  to  one  another, 
"Navire!  Navire!"  "A  ship!  A  ship!"  But  to  this 
shout  of  joy  quickly  succeeded  cries  of  terror  and 
consternation.  There  was  an  explosion,  and  from 
the  strange  vessel  a  cloud  of  smoke  and  sparks  arose 
and  drifted  rapidly  toward  the  town.  A  strong  wind 
filled  every  sail  and  the  fire-ship  (a  schooner,  the 
property  of  Simon  Fraser,  captured  by  the  rebels  at 
the  Isle  of  Orleans)  threatened  within  a  few  moments 
to  drive  its  flaming  hulk,  full  of  inflammable  mate 
rial,  into  the  midst  of  the  crowded  shipping. 

The  cannoneers  rushed  to  their  guns,  and  from 
the  grand  battery  poured  a  storm  of  shot  upon  the 
blazing  vessel,  hoping  to  sink  her.  Then  a  boat  con 
taining  those  who  had  thus  far  navigated  the  fire-ship 
left  her  side  and  sped  away  toward  Point  Levi.  In 
the  universal  confidence  that  the  newcomer  was  a  ship 
from  England,  she  had  been  allowed  to  approach  the 
cul  de  sac  without  the  least  opposition.  The  air  was 
full  of  the  smell  of  powder,  of  sulphur  and  of  pitch, 
of  smoke  and  flying  cinders.  The  shipping,  including 
thirty  merchantmen,  the  frigate  Lizard  and  the  sloop 
Hunter,  probably  the  Lower  Town  itself,  seemed 
doomed.  Another  hundred  yards  passed  and  the 
purpose  of  the  Americans  would  be  effected. 


THE    CAMPAIGN   FAILS  309 

Certainly  some  jealous  Homeric  goddess  must  have 
protected  Quebec,  for  even  this  triumph  was  denied 
at  the  last  moment  to  the  besiegers.  The  sails  of  the 
fire-ship  caught  fire,  she  steered  wildly;  the  tide 
turned,  and  so  strong  an  eddy  caught  her  that  al 
though  the  wind  was  northeast  she  grounded  on  Beau- 
port  Flats,  where,  helplessly,  to  the  great  joy  of  her 
enemies  and  the  mortification  of  her  friends,  she  vom 
ited  forth  the  last  of  her  bellyful  of  bombs,  grenades 
and  squibs,  and  expired  a  charred  and  blackened  fail 
ure.  The  garrison  thought  that  during  the  expected 
confusion,  the  Americans  were  prepared  to  make  a 
general  assault,  but  this  does  not  seem  to  have  been 
the  case. 

Three  days  later,  between  four  and  five  in  the 
morning,  the  Isis,  a  fifty-gun  ship,  commanded  by 
Captain  Charles  Douglas,  which  had  left  Portland 
March  11,  came  into  view  from  the  beleaguered  city. 
It  was  followed  closely  by  the  Martin,  a  sloop  of 
war  of  fourteen  guns,  and  by  a  third  vessel,  the  ship 
Surprise,  Captain  Lindsay,  which  had  sailed  in  com 
pany  with  the  Martin  from  Plymouth,  March  20, 
forerunners  of  the  expected  British  fleet.  They 
had  forced  their  way  through  the  floating  ice  up  the 
St.  Lawrence,  with  great  danger  and  difficulty. 

The  citizens,  half-dressed,  ran  down  to  the  grand 
battery  to  feast  their  eyes  on  the  joyous  sight,  while 
Captain  Douglas's  salute  of  twenty  guns  pealed  out 
the  death-knell  of  the  rebel  hopes,  and  the  responsive 
volleys  from  the  citadel  and  the  clanging  of  all  the 


310        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

bells  in  the  city  sang  the  Te  Deum  of  the  garrison 
and  citizens. 

Sad,  indeed,  was  the  fate  of  Arnold's  men  in 
prison,  more  hopeless  than  ever  their  situation,— 
their  enemies  overwhelmingly  reinforced,  the  Ameri 
can  batteries  already  proven  impotent,  and  their 
army  about  to  be  driven  in  disorder  from  the  envi 
rons  of  the  city.  Those  were  not  the  days  when 
rebels  were  dealt  with  leniently;  their  outlook  was  a 
voyage  to  England,  subject  to  all  those  indignities 
which  Ethan  Allen  had  suffered;  a  speedy  trial,  and 
if  not  death,  a  severe  and  perhaps  a  cruel  sentence. 
As  Colonel  Greene,  in  his  prison,  listened  to  the  tri 
umphant  strains  of  martial  music  rising  from  the 
Lower  Town,  where  the  redcoats  were  disembarking 
from  the  Isis  and  the  Surprise,  he  was  heard  to  ex 
claim  in  so  emphatic  a  tone  that  the  words  became  a 
proverb  among  his  men :  "I  will  never  again  be  taken 
prisoner  alive." 

Thomas  had  held  a  council  of  officers  on  the 
5th  day  of  May,  and  decided  upon  a  retreat,  with 
the  intention  of  making  a  stand  at  Deschambault  or 
Jacques  Cartier,  which  commanded  a  pass  between 
two  mountains,  eleven  leagues  above  Quebec.  Upon 
the  approach  of  the  British  ships,  therefore,  camp 
was  broken  with  all  speed  and  not  without  panic, 
for  news  came  up  the  river  that  seven  transports, 
carrying  General  Burgoyne,  with  thousands  of  British 
regulars  and  Hessians,  were  already  near  at  hand. 
A  force  of  about  one  thousand  men,  composed  of 


THE    CAMPAIGN   FAILS  311 

the  Royal  Emigrants,  two  companies  of  the  29th 
regiment,  two  hundred  marines,  the  Halifax  artif 
icers,  and  some  of  the  English  and  French  militia, 
in  two  divisions,  six  columns  deep,  with  four  brass 
six-pounders,  one  division  under  Carleton,  the  other 
commanded  by  McLean,  sallied  that  very  day,  at 
noon,  by  the  gates  St.  John  and  St.  Louis.  How 
ever,  they  moved  out  with  a  caution  most  flattering 
to  the  Americans,  and  advanced  carefully,  though 
greeted  by  only  a  few  scattered  shots,  to  the  scene  of 
the  battle  of  April  28,  1760,  where  Murray  almost 
lost  to  the  Chevalier  de  Levis  what  Wolfe  had  died  to 
gain.  Here  they  expected  battle  would  be  offered 
them.  On  their  way,  they  burnt  the  houses  which 
had  afforded  shelter  to  the  Americans,  and  an  ad 
vance  party,  under  Captain  Nairn,  of  McLean's  reg 
iment,  advanced  upon  the  two  batteries  near  the 
city. 

• 

Meantime,  General  Thomas  and  the  New  England 
officers  were  trying  to  the  full  extent  of  their  power 
to  form  their  men,  who  were  hurriedly  assembling  at 
their  respective  quarters ;  but  when  the  British  opened 
with  their  field  pieces  upon  a  scant  rear-guard  of 
some  two  hundred  and  fifty  men  hastily  formed  to 
cover  the  retreat,  the  greater  number  of  the  troops 
broke  and  fled  with  their  baggage,  in  many  cases 
throwing  away  their  muskets  and  bayonets.  The 
batteries  were  abandoned,  and  seized  by  Nairn. 

Colonel  Maxwell  of  the  Pennsylvanians  succeeded 
in  forming  nine  hundred  men  in  ambush  to  meet  the 


312        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

enemy,  but  receiving  orders  from  Thomas  to  retire, 
joined  in  the  general  retreat.  Some  of  the  Pennsyl 
vania  troops  lost  all  their  baggage,  and  did  not  have 
time  to  save  even  their  provisions.  The  artillery, 
the  camp  equipments,  most  of  the  ammunition,  and 
some  valuable  papers  were  abandoned,  and  many  of 
the  sick  were  left  to  the  mercy  of  the  enemy. 

Fortunately,  the  British  did  not  quickly  follow  up 
their  advantage,  their  intention  having  been  merely 
to  demolish  the  batteries  and  not  to  bring  on  a  gen 
eral  engagement.  But  upon  sight  of  a  small  force  of 
Americans  preparing  to  meet  them,  and  many  others 
in  full  retreat,  they  formed  a  line  of  battle;  the  Fusi- 
leers  and  Emigrants  on  the  right,  the  British  militia 
and  sailors  on  the  left,  with  the  newcomers  of  the 
29th  in  the  center.  The  French  were  formed  as  a 
cords-de-reserve,  in  the  rear.  Then,  upon  the  disap 
pearance  of  the  Americans,  McLean's  regiment,  the 
Royal  Emigrants,  sat  down  to  eat  the  dinner  of  the 
American  general,  which  they  found  ready  upon  his 
table.  The  Surprise  and  Martin  were  sent  up  the 
river,  where  they  recaptured  the  Gaspe,  half  prepared 
as  a  fire-ship,  and  the  schooner  Mary,  and  took  a  few 
prisoners,  but  no  further  advance  was  made  that  day 
by  the  British  land  force,  and  their  war  vessels  were 
constrained  by  contrary  conditions  of  navigation  to 
drop  their  anchors  a  little  below  the  Falls  of  Riche 
lieu.  Meanwhile  the  Americans  retreated  about  twelve 
miles  on  the  6th  and  thirty  miles  more  on  the  7th. 

Concerned,  as  we  are,  only  with  the  fortunes  of 
Arnold's   men — the    Cambridge    detachment— we    are 


THE    CAMPAIGN   FAILS  313 

spared  the  disappointing  chronicle  of  succeeding 
events.  We  should  have  to  describe  how  General 
Thomas  first  prepared  to  make  a  stand  at  Descham- 
bault,  then  evacuated  it,  gave  ground  again,  and  con 
tinued  his  retreat  across  the  St.  Lawrence  to  Sorel; 
how,  contending  with  every  difficulty  in  tireless  efforts 
to  provision  his  army  and  resist  that  terrible  scourge 
smallpox,  he  at  last  contracted  the  disease  himself, 
and  died  at  Chambly;  how  Arnold  with  his  little  gar 
rison  of  three  hundred  men  abandoned  Montreal  to 
join  Thomas,  as  Burgoyne  and  the  troops  of  the  King 
advanced  towards  Three  Rivers;  how,  after  a  union 
with  the  new  army  of  thirty-five  hundred  men  under 
General  John  Sullivan,  and  some  of  those  reinforce 
ments  which,  owing  to  the  severity  of  the  weather  and 
the  ice  on  the  lakes,  had  been  too  late  in  coming  to 
the  rescue,  Canada  was  finally  evacuated  in  June, 
1776,  after  some  skirmishing  which  resulted  in  hu 
miliating  American  defeats  at  the  Cedars  and  at 
Three  Rivers. 

Thus  was  British  America  lost  to  the  Sisterhood 
of  States,  or,  as  Lieutenant  Ainslie,  of  the  Quebec 
garrison  would  have  it,  "Thus  was  the  country 
round  Quebec  freed  from  a  swarm  of  misguided 
people,  led  by  designing  men,  enemies  to  the  liberty 
of  their  country,  under  the  specious  title  of  the 
Asserters  of  American  Rights."  Captain  Matthew 
Smith  and  Lieutenant  Simpson  of  Arnold's  detach 
ment,  who  were  stationed  on  the  Isle  of  Orleans, 
having  no  timely  information  of  the  decision  to  re 
treat,  lost  some  of  their  men  by  capture,  though 

28 


314        ARNOLD'S   EXPEDITION   TO    QUEBEC 

Smith  himself  escaped.  They  were  brought  to  the 
Dauphin  jail,  and  from  them  the  prisoners  learned 
details  and  incidents  of  the  winter  blockade,  of  the 
progress  of  which  the  gossip  of  the  guard  and  the 
intermittent  cannonade  had  most  uncertainly  ad 
vised  them.  The  Americans  at  Point  Levi  and 
Charlesbourg  escaped  as  best  they  could  through  the 
woods— for  their  first  knowledge  of  the  retreat  was 
the  sight  of  the  hurried  breaking  of  the  camp  on  the 
Plains  of  Abraham.  It  was  to  meet  their  case  and 
that  of  others  like  them  that  Carleton  later  issued 
a  proclamation,  essentially  humane  in  spite  of  its 
somewhat  arrogant  wording: 

Whereas  I  am  informed  that  many  of  His  Majesty's 
deluded  subjects  of  the  neighboring  Provinces,  laboring 
under  wounds  and  divers  disorders,  are  dispersed  in  the 
adjoining  woods  and  Parishes,  and  in  great  danger  of  per 
ishing  from  want  of  proper  assistance,  all  Captains  and 
other  officers  of  militia  are  hereby  commanded  to  make  dili 
gent  search  for  all  such  distressed  persons,  and  afford  them 
all  necessary  relief,  and  convey  them  to  the  General  Hos 
pital,  where  proper  care  shall  be  taken  of  them.  All  rea 
sonable  expenses  which  shall  be  incurred  in  complying  with 
these  orders  shall  be  paid  by  the  Receiver  General.  And 
lest  a  consciousness  of  past  offenses  should  deter  these  mis 
erable  wretches  from  receiving  that  assistance  which  their 
distressed  situation  may  require,  I  hereby  make  known  to 
them  that  as  soon  as  their  health  is  returned,  they  shall 
have  free  liberty  to  return  to  their  respective  Provinces. 

How  much  response  this  proclamation  met  with 
there  are  no  records  to  show;  probably  it  saved  some 


THE    CAMPAIGN   FAILS  315 

lives  and  no  little  suffering.  At  all  events  the  spirit 
of  humanity  which  dictated  it,  a  spirit  which  Carleton 
showed  on  more  than  one  other  occasion,  deserves  a 
word  of  appreciation. 

We  have  now  only  to  recount  the  further  experi 
ences  of  our  poor  prisoners  of  war  in  the  Seminary 
of  Laval  and  the  Dauphin  jail.  After  their  friends, 
the  besiegers,  had  decamped,  the  prisoners  gave  up 
all  hope  of  being  retaken  and  even  of  ever  seeing 
their  families  again,  but  they  now  received  fresh  food, 
and  the  comparative  freedom  they  were  allowed  ren 
dered  their  condition  more  tolerable,  although  the 
scurvy  and  other  distempers,  contracted  during  the 
long  and  rigid  confinement,  still  tormented  them. 
About  the  15th  of  May,  Colonel  McLean,  with  some 
of  the  officers  who  had  just  arrived  with  the  fleet  from 
England,  entered  the  Dauphin  jail  about  midday. 
Captain  Prentice,  by  direction  of  Colonel  McLean, 
pointed  out  to  these  officers  those  who  had  been  named 
to  him  as  the  leaders  in  the  proposed  outbreak.  The 
blacksmith  was  then  ordered  to  remove  the  prisoners' 
irons.  After  the  officers  had  departed  he  said  to  the 
captives,  "Come,  come,  gentlemen,  you  can  now  put 
off  your  irons."  In  a  moment  they  were  free,  and 
the  shackles  were  never  again  put  upon  their  limbs. 

Major  Meigs,*  on  the  16th  of  May,  was  paroled  and 
allowed  to  go  home,  a  favor  which  seems  to  have  been 
accorded  him  because  he  saved  the  life  of  a  British 

*  The  Canadian  account  says  he  and  Dearborn  were  sent  to  Halifax 
in  the  frigate  Niger. 


316        ARNOLD'S   EXPEDITION   TO    QUEBEC 

officer,  probably  Laws,  on  the  night  of  the  assault. 
Captain  Dearborn  also  secured  a  parole  and  was  sent 
home  about  the  same  time  on  account  of  continued 
illness.  On  the  5th  of  June,  Carleton,  with  a  number 
of  his  officers,  visited  the  prisoners  again,  and  after 
inquiring  kindly  for  their  welfare,  suggested  that  if  he 
could  rely  upon  their  honor,  he  might  accept  their  pa 
role  and  send  them  home.  They  lost  no  time  in  send 
ing  him  the  following  reply : 

We,  the  prisoners  in  his  Majesty's  gaols,  return  Your 
Excellency  our  most  happy  and  unfeigned  thanks  for  your 
clemency  and  goodness  to  us  whilst  in  prison.  Being  sen 
sible  of  your  humanity,  we  give  Your  Excellency  thanks  for 
your  offer  made  us  yesterday,  and  having  a  desire  to  return 
to  our  friends  and  families  again,  we  promise  not  to  take 
up  arms  against  his  Majesty,  but  remain  peaceable  and 
quiet  in  our  respective  places  of  abode,  and  we  further 
assure  your  Excellency  that  you  may  depend  upon  our 
fidelity. 

So  we  remain  your  Excellency's  humble  servants. 

On  the  following  day  the  officers  also  petitioned 
the  Governor  in  behalf  of  the  private  soldiers  in  the 
Dauphin  jail,  begging  that  some  measures  should  be 
taken  for  their  relief,  and  that  if  possible  they  should 
be  allowed  to  return  to  their  families,  ' i  many  of  whom 
must  be  reduced  to  the  deepest  distress."  But  the 
Governor  changed  his  mind  and  answered  both  these 
petitions  in  the  negative,  and  though  the  officers  later 
addressed  a  second  petition  to  him,  a  parole  which 
they  could  accept,  that  is  to  say,  one  which  omitted 


THE    CAMPAIGN   FAILS  317 

the  words  "We  will  never  take  up  arms  against  his 
Majesty,"  was  not  offered  them,  nor  were  arrange 
ments  made  for  their  departure  from  Quebec  until 
the  llth  of  August.  Then  men  and  officers  were 
allowed  to  give  their  parole,  and  in  five  transports 
convoyed  by  the  frigate  Pearl,  under  Captain  McKen- 
zie,  they  sailed  for  New  York  and  home.  Lamb, 
Morgan,  Oswald,  Steele,  McAlister,*  McClean,f  Heth, 
Bruen,^:  Wister,§  Duncan,||  McGuire,1f  Porterfield, 
Moody,**  and  Nichols  were  on  the  ship  Lord  Sandwich; 
Greene  and  others  on  the  John  and  Christopher; 
Colonel  Irvine,tf  with  a  number  of  comrades,  on  the 
Prince  of  Wales;  and  the  remainder  of  the  prisoners  on 
the  Mermaid  and  a  fifth  vessel. 

*  This  must  be  Abdiel  McAllister,  Second  Lieutenant  6th  Pennsyl 
vania  Battalion.  He  had  been  taken  prisoner  at  Isle  aux  Noix, 
June  21. 

t  Moses  McClean,  Captain  6th  Pennsylvania,  had  also  been  captured 
at  Isle  aux  Noix. 

J  This  was  Peter  Bryan  Bruin,  of  Virginia.  He  had  been  wounded 
in  the  attack  with  Morgan.  After  his  return  to  active  service  he  be 
came  Major  of  the  Seventh  Virginia. 

§  Wister  I  cannot  identify.  He  was  probably  from  Pennsylvania, 
but  the  name  does  not  appear  on  Heitman's  Army  Register. 

||  Matthew  Duncan,  a  volunteer  of  Pennsylvania. 

fl  John  McGuire,  of  Virginia,  was  a  volunteer,  afterwards  a  captain 
in  Grayson's  Virginia  regiment,  wounded  at  Germantown  and  retired 
from  service  in  1778. 

**  Andrew  Moodie,  of  New  York,  lieutenant  in  Lamb's  artillery ; 
afterwards  a  captain,  to  1783. 

tt  After  Major-General  William  Irvine.  He  had  been  captured 
at  Three  Rivers,  June  8.  He  was  a  physician,  and  is  referred  to  by 
Andre  in  the  Cow-Chace: 

"  And  Canada  immortalized 
The  vender   of  the  pill." 


318        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

Carleton  generously  presented  the  officers  on  board 
each  transport  with  a  cask  of  wine  and  five  sheep 
for  sea  stores,  and  the  Bishop  of  Quebec  also  con 
tributed  two  casks  of  wine,  eight  loaves  of  sugar,  and 
several  pounds  of  green  tea.  The  tea  was  respect 
fully  and  with  dignity  declined,  and  the  Bishop,  with 
true  Christian  spirit,  sent  coffee  instead.  To  each  of 
the  rank  and  file  Carleton  sent  a  shirt,  a  garment 
sadly  needed  by  most  of  them,  and  also  advanced 
money  to  supply  the  immediate  necessities  of  many 
of  the  men  and  officers. 

After  a  voyage  of  a  full  month  the  fleet  of  trans 
ports  hove  to  off  Sandy  Hook,  on  the  llth  and  12th 
of  September,  1776,  in  plain  view  of  the  British 
encampment  on  Staten  Island  and  the  fleet  of  about 
four  hundred  vessels  and  transports  in  the  harbor. 
One  man,  Thomas  Garver  by  name,  died  on  the  voy 
age.  Sergeant  Thomas  Gibson  and  another  young 
fellow  of  Hendricks  's  company,  John  Blair,  determined 
to  escape  from  their  ship,  which  was  anchored  three 
miles  south  of  Governor's  Island.  Dressed  only  in 
shirts  and  trousers,  they  went  forward  into  the  fore 
castle,  where  there  happened  to  be  two  large  New 
foundland  dogs;  these  they  set  to  fighting  and,  hav 
ing  thus  engaged  the  sailors,  they  returned  to  the 
stern  of  the  vessel,  stripped  off  their  clothes  and 
jumped  into  the  water.  They  swam  to  the  boat 
under  the  stern  of  the  ship,  secured  her,  and  had 
rowed  a  thousand  yards  before  the  boat  was  missed. 
Upon  their  discovery  the  other  boats  of  the  vessel 
were  sent  out  after  the  fugitives,  but  they  had  too 


JOHN    JOSEPH    HENRY. 

From  original  painting  in  the  Jordan  Collection, 

Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania. 


THE    CAMPAIGN   FAILS  319 

long  a  start.  After  rowing  about  five  miles,  naked, 
they  landed  at  Bergen  Neck,  where  they  bartered 
their  boat  for  some  clothing.  They  then  went  to 
Washington's  headquarters,  but  their  exploit  met 
with  his  disapproval,  as  they  had  given  their  parole. 

After  a  year  of  manful  struggle  with  adversity  for 
the  cause  of  their  country,  the  shattered  remnant  of 
Arnold's  brave  battalions  at  last  gazed  upon  their 
native  shores.  Defeat  and  mortification  greeted  them 
even  here,  for  they  saw  New  York  in  flames,  and 
their  compatriots  evacuating  it.  After  a  week  of  ex 
asperating  delay  they  were  allowed  to  land  about 
three  miles  from  Elizabethtown,  and  make  their  way 
as  best  they  could  to  their  widely  separated  homes. 

Out  of  Thayer's  company,  which  left  Cambridge 
with  eighty-seven  men,  including  officers,  the  cap 
tain,  one  lieutenant,  and  nine  of  the  rank  and  file 
remained.  Of  Morgan's  company  of  ninety-six  Vir 
ginians,  not  more  than  twenty-five  ever  reached  their 
homes.  The  two  Pennsylvania  companies  of  riflemen 
made  hardly  a  better  showing,  while  the  remaining 
New  England  companies,  who  continued  to  advance 
after  the  council  of  war  on  the  Dead  River,  had  like 
wise  been  decimated  again  and  again  by  exposure, 
disease  and  the  hand  of  the  enemy.  Many  of  those 
who  survived  for  a  time  after  their  return  would  have 
exclaimed  with  Henry,  as  he  closes  his  narrative  of 
his  experiences:  " Would  to  God  my  extreme  suffer 
ings  had  then  ended  a  life  which  since  has  been  a 
tissue  of  labor,  pain,  and  misery;"  but  many  also 
doubtless  shared  with  Private  Abner  Stocking,  another 


320        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

survivor  of  the  expedition,  the  devout  feelings  with 
which  his  return  to  the  home  he  had  hardly  dared 
hope  again  to  see,  inspired  him : 

Never  did  my  thanks  to  my  Creator  and  Preserver  arise 
with  more  sincerity  than  at  the  present  moment.  How 
kind  has  been  that  Providence  which  has  preserved  me 
through  so  many  dangers  and  sufferings,  and  returned  me 
in  health  and  safety  to  the  bosom  of  my  friends.  When 
wandering  through  the  Wilderness,  faint,  hungry  and  weary, 
God  was  my  support,  and  did  not  suffer  me,  like  others, 
to  fall  by  the  way  side;  when  sick  and  in  prison  he  visited 
me,  when  a  captive  he  set  me  free.  May  I  ever  be  grateful 
to  my  Divine  Protector,  and  may  my  future  life  be  devoted 
to  his  service ! 

Such  was  the  simple  piety  of  many  of  that  de 
voted  little  army.  On  the  stern  but  confident  re 
ligion  of  their  youth,  taught  them  under  the  white 
steeples  of  their  village  meeting-houses,  they  leaned, 
full  of  faith,  as  upon  a  strong  staff,  in  the  days  of 
hunger,  cold,  and  wretchedness  in  the  wilderness, 
and  in  the  weary  hours  of  disease  and  defeat  before 
the  fortress  city  of  Quebec.  To  this,  and  to  the  noble 
sentiment  of  patriotism  which  glowed  in  every  heart, 
we  must  attribute  the  fortitude  and  the  dauntless 
courage  which  supported  them  throughout  all  their 
labors,  sufferings  and  disappointments. 

Surely  they  have  deserved  an  earlier  historian 
and  a  worthier  pen  than  mine,  and  from  their  country 
a  more  fitting  memorial  than  the  simple  shaft  tardily 
erected  with  private  funds  on  the  ground  where  the 
riflemen  camped  at  Old  Newbury ! 


APPENDIX  A 


A  BIBLIOGKAPHICAL  LIST    OF   CONTEMPORARY 
JOURNALS 


HE  following  list  gives  some  information 
concerning  all  of  the  journals  describing 
Arnold's  march  through  the  wilderness 
or  the  siege  of  Quebec,  the  existence  of 
which  was  known  to  the  author  of  this 
volume.  A  part  have  attained  actual  publication, 
others  have  been  printed  for  private  distribution, 
while  a  few  are  to  be  found  only  in  the  worn  and 
tattered  manuscript  of  the  men  who  wrote  them  a 
hundred  and  twenty-five  years  ago.  They  constitute 
a  fairly  large  and  invariably  interesting  body  of  his 
torical  material,  which  preserves  unimpaired  the  quaint 
individuality  of  their  widely  diverse  authors,  and  the 
unmistakable  color  and  atmosphere  of  a  period  which 
must  always  be  of  particular  importance  to  the  stu 
dent  of  American  history.  The  reader  will  find  much 
to  entertain  him  in  any  of  these  journals  to  which  he 
may  be  able  to  gain  access. 

AMERICAN    JOURNALS 

ARNOLD'S  JOURNAL.      This  Journal  was  left  by  Arnold 

at  West  Point,  when  he  fled  on  hearing  of  the  capture  of 

Andre,  and  was  found  among  his  papers  by  Judge  Pierpont 

Edwards,  of  Connecticut,  who  was  appointed  to  administer 

29  321 


322        ARNOLD'S   EXPEDITION   TO    QUEBEC 

upon  the  goods  and  estate  of  Arnold,  his  treason  making 
him  dead  in  law.  "The  manuscript  was  in  existence  in 
1835,  though  in  a  rather  dilapidated  state."  It  was  last 
noted  by  Mr.  Justin  Winsor  as  owned  by  Mr.  S.  L.  M. 
Barlow,  of  New  York.  A  copy  made  of  it  when  owned  by 
Judge  Edwards  is  in  the  "Sparks  Manuscripts"  (LII, 
Vol.  II).  Extracts  were  published  in  the  appendix  to  the 
life  of  Burr,  by  Samuel  L.  Knapp,  1835.  Its  first  pages, 
heretofore  missing,  are  found  in  Force's  Archives,  Vol.  Ill, 
page  1058.  They  are  written  by  "Eleazer  Oswald,  Secretary 
pro  tern." 

HENRY'S  JOURNAL,  entitled  "An  Accurate  and  Interest 
ing  Account  of  the  Hardships  and  Sufferings  of  the  Band 
of  Heroes  who  Traversed  the  Wilderness  in  the  Campaign 
Against  Quebec  in  1775."  By  John  Joseph  Henry,  Esq., 
late  President  of  the  Second  Judicial  District  of  Pennsyl 
vania.  Lancaster:  Printed  by  William  Greer,  1812.  Pp. 
225.  Small  12mo. 

The  same. — Library  edition.  "Campaign  Against  Que 
bec,  being  an  Accurate  and  Interesting  Account  of  the 
Hardships  and  Sufferings  of  that  Band  of  Heroes  who 
Traversed  the  Wilderness  by  the  Route  of  the  Kennebec 
and  Chaudiere  Rivers  to  Quebec,  in  the  year  1775."  By 
John  Joseph  Henry,  Esq.,  late  President  of  the  Second 
Judicial  District  of  Pennsylvania.  Revised  edition,  with 
corrections  and  alterations.  Watertown,  N.  Y. :  Printed 
and  published  by  Knowlton  &  Rice,  1844.  Pp.  212.  16mo. 
(Sketch  of  the  life  of  Arnold,  copied  mainly  from  Sparks' 
Biography,  at  the  end  of  the  second  edition  in  the  place  of 
notes  in  the  first  edition). 

The  same.— Third  edition.  "Account  of  Arnold's  Cam 
paign  against  Quebec  and  of  the  Hardships  and  Sufferings  of 
that  Band  of  Heroes,  who  Traversed  the  Wilderness  of  Maine 


CONTEMPORARY   JOURNALS  323 

from  Cambridge  to  the  St.  Lawrence  in  the  Autumn  of  1775. ' ' 
By  John  Joseph  Henry,  one  of  the  survivors.  Albany :  Joel 
Munsell,  1877.  With  a  Memoir  of  Judge  Henry  by  his 
grandson,  Aubrey  H.  Smith.  Letters  from  the  Pennsylvania 
Journal  and  Weekly  Advertiser,  Jan.  3,  1776.  Roll  of  Capt. 
Matthew  Smith's  Company.  Henry's  Journal  has  also  been 
printed  with  portrait  of  the  author  in  Vol.  XV  of  the  Penn 
sylvania  Archives. 

McCoy's  JOURNAL.  Henry's  Journal  states  that  Ser 
geant  William  McCoy,  of  Captain  Hendricks's  company, 
while  in  confinement  in  Quebec,  gave  to  Major  Murray,  of  the 
British  garrison,  a  correct  copy  of  a  journal  kept  by  him 
self  through  the  wilderness.  Whether  it  was  carried  to  Eng 
land  is  not  known.  It  was  probably  never  published.* 

HASKELL'S  JOURNAL.  May  5,  1775,  to  May  30,  1776.  It 
includes  the  early  part  of  the  siege  of  Boston,  and  notes  the 
hardships  and  privation  endured  by  the  troops  in  this  expe 
dition.  It  is  a  diary  kept  by  Caleb  Haskell,  of  Newburyportr 
Mass.,  a  private  in  Captain  Ward's  company.  Published  in 
pamphlet  form  by  William  H.  Huse  &  Co.,  Newburyport, 
1881.  Edited,  with  notes,  by  Lothrop  Withington.  Mr. 
Withington's  notes  give  the  names  of  some  of  the  men  who 
hailed  from  Newbury  and  Newburyport,  who  were  soldiers  of 
the  Quebec  detachment.  The  manuscript  of  this  journal  is 
believed  to  be  in  the  possession  of  some  of  Haskell's  descend 
ants  in  Newburyport.  The  pamphlet  edited  by  Mr.  With 
ington  is  already  rare.  The  one  which  he  so  courteously 
presented  to  me,  I  shall  in  turn  present  to  the  Boston  Public 
Library. 

*  McCoy's  journal  is  probably  that  published  in  Glasgow,  1776,  and 
reprinted  here  in  the  Pennsylvania  Archives,  Vol.  IV.,  p.  21,  as 
"  Journal  of  a  March  of  Company  of  Provincials  from  Carlisle  to 
Boston  and  thence  to  Quebec."  (Smith.) 


324        ARNOLD'S   EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

MELVIN'S  JOURNAL.  This  is  entitled  "A  Journal  of  the 
Expedition  to  Quebec,  in  the  year  1775,  under  the  Command 
of  Colonel  Benedict  Arnold. ' '  By  James  Melvin,  a  private  in 
Captain  Dearborn's  company.  New  York,  1857.  With  in 
troductory  remarks  and  notes  by  W.  J.  D.  Large  8vo. 
Tinted  paper.  Pp.  30.  100  copies  only  printed.  It  com 
mences  at  Cambridge  September  13,  1775,  and  terminates  at 
Quebec,  August  5,  1776.  It  was  edited  by  William  J.  Davis, 
Esq.,  late  private  secretary  of  Hon.  George  Bancroft.  Of 
the  author  nothing  is  known  beyond  the  statement  made  in 
the  title  page. 

MEIGS'S  JOURNAL.  This  is  entitled  "Journal  of  the  Ex 
pedition  Against  Quebec,  under  Command  of  Colonel 
Benedict  Arnold,  in  the  year  1775,"  by  Major  Return  J. 
Meigs,  with  introduction  and  notes  by  Charles  J.  Bushnell. 
New  York.  Privately  printed,  1864.  8vo.  Fine  tinted 
paper,  with  portrait  of  Colonel  Christopher  Greene.  Pp.  57. 
It  begins  September  9,  at  Roxbury,  and  closes  at  Quebec, 
January  1,  1776.  The  Journal  was  printed  in  the  Massa 
chusetts  Historical  Collections,  Second  Series,  Vol.  II,  1814. 

WARE'S  JOURNAL.  This  is  entitled,  "A  Journal  of  a 
March  from  Cambridge  on  an  Expedition  Against  Quebec, 
in  Colonel  Benedict  Arnold's  Detachment,  September  13, 
1775."  Kept  by  Joseph  Ware,  of  Needham,  Mass.  Published 
in  the  New  England  Historical  and  Genealogical  Register, 
Vol.  VI,  1852,  with  notes  by  Justin  Winsor,  of  Boston.  The 
author  was  a  private  in  Captain  Samuel  Ward's  company. 

SQUIER'S  JOURNAL,  entitled  "The  Diary  of  Ephraim 
Squier,"  September,  7  to  November  25,  1775,  is  preserved  in 
the  Pension  Office,  Washington,  and  is  printed  in  the  ' '  Maga 
zine  of  American  History"  (Vol.  II,  p.  685).  This  is  the 
only  account  that  has  come  to  my  notice  of  the  adventures  of 
Colonel  Enos's  men  on  their  retreat. 


CONTEMPORARY   JOURNALS  325 

THAYER'S  JOURNAL.  "Invasion  of  Canada  in  1775," 
including  the  journal  of  Captain  Simeon  Thayer,  describing 
the  perils  and  sufferings  of  the  army  under  Colonel  Benedict 
Arnold,  with  notes  and  appendix  by  E.  M.  Stone.  Provi 
dence,  1867,  being  Vol.  VI  of  the  Rhode  Island  Historical 
Society  Collections. 

TOPHAM'S  JOURNAL.  This  journal  has  never  been 
printed.  The  manuscript  is  now  in  the  possession  of  the 
author's  grandson,  James  G.  Topham,  Esq.,  of  Newport, 
through  whose  courtesy  I  was  permitted  to  make  a  copy.  I 
shall  present  that  copy  to  the  Boston  Public  Library. 

HETH  's  JOURNAL.  A  ' '  Journal  of  Lieutenant  Wm.  Heth, ' ' 
of  Morgan's  riflemen,  is  referred  to  in  Marshall's  "Washing 
ton,"  pp.  53-57,  and  also  in  Graham's  "Life  of  Daniel  Mor 
gan,  ' '  where  Morgan  in  his  account  of  the  assault  on  Quebec, 
mentions  its  existence.  Wm.  Heth's  grandson  is  Richard 
H.  M.  Harrison  of  Richmond,  Virginia.  He  is  said  to  have 
a  crayon  portrait  of  Lieutenant  Heth*  and  possibly  the  manu 
script  of  the  journal. 

WILDE'S  JOURNAL.  This  has  been  edited  by  Justin 
Winsor.  It  is  the  diary  of  Ebenezer  Wilde.  The  manu 
script  was  given  to  Harvard  College  Library  in  1850  by 
W.  S.  Stoddard. 

PORTERFIELD  's  JOURNAL.  Charles  Porterfield,  ensign  of 
Morgan's  company,  wrote  a  journal,  an  extract  from  which, 
relating  to  the  attack  on  Quebec,  was  printed  in  the  "Maga 
zine  of  American  History"  in  April,  1889.  George  A. 
Porterfield,  of  Charlestown,  West  Virginia,  writes  me  that 
he  and  Richard  P.  Bell,  Esq.,  of  Staunton,  Virginia,  great- 

*  From  this  portrait,  lent  me  by  Mr.  Harrison,  was  made  the  en 
graving  shown  opposite  page  246.  [Eo.] 


326        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

great-grand-nephew    of    Charles    Porterfield,    have    made    a 
thorough  but  unsuccessful  search  for  this  manuscript.* 

PIERCE  's  JOURNAL.  This  is  noted  by  Mr.  Stone  as  the 
journal  of  John  Pierce,  one  of  Church's  scouts  or  surveyors, 
and  in  the  possession  of  Charles  Congdon,  Esq.,  a  member 
of  the  Bradford  Club  of  New  York.  I  find  that  Mr.  Cong- 
don's  library,  after  his  decease,  was  sold  and  a  portion  of  it 
purchased  by  Mr.  Jos.  F.  Sabin.  Neither  Mr.  Sabin  nor 
Mr.  Henry  M.  Congdon,  son  of  Mr.  Congdon,  have  any 
knowledge  of  the  whereabouts  of  the  journal.  The  Brad 
ford  Club  long  ago  ceased  to  exist. 

DR.  ISAAC  SENTER'S  JOURNAL.  This  is  entitled,  "The 
Journal  of  Isaac  Senter,  Physician  and  Surgeon  to  the 
troops  detached  from  the  American  army  encamped  at  Cam 
bridge,  Mass.,  on  a  Secret  Expedition  against  Quebec,  under 
the  command  of  Colonel  Benedict  Arnold,  in  September, 
1775."  Philadelphia:  Published  by  the  Historical  Society 
of  Pennsylvania,  1846.  To  this  edition  is  prefixed  a  brief 
notice  of  the  manuscript  of  the  journal  and  a  biographical 
preface.  A  few  notes  of  reference  are  added.  "This  journal 
was  carried  to  Philadelphia,  where  it  was  lost  sight  of  for 
many  years,  and  finally  came  into  the  hands  of  Dr.  Lewis 
Roper,  of  that  city,  whose  perception  of  its  importance  in 
duced  him  to  communicate  it  to  the  Pennsylvania  Historical 
Society.  It  commences  at  Cambridge  September  13,  1775, 
and  closes  at  Quebec,  January  6,  1776."  Mr.  C.  A.  Munn, 
of  New  York,  now  has  the  manuscript. 

HENDRICKS'S  JOURNAL.  This  is  entitled  "Journal  of  the 
March  of  a  Party  of  Provincials  from  Carlyle  to  Boston," 
and  from  thence  to  Quebec,  begun  July  13  and  ended 
December.  31,  1775;  to  which  is  added  an  "Account  of 

*It  has  since  been  found,  but  contains  nothing  of  particular  value. 
[Eo.] 


CONTEMPORARY    JOURNALS  327 

the  Attack  and  Engagement  of  Quebec,  the  31st  of 
December,  1775."  Glasgow,  1775,  pp.  36.  It  is  the 
journal  of  a  company  of  riflemen,  under  Captain  Wil 
liam  Hendricks  and  John  Chambers,  and  was  sent  from 
Quebec  to  Glasgow  by  a  gentleman  who  appended  the 
account.  This  journal  has  been  printed  in  Vol.  XV  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Archives.  The  name  of  the  author  of  "The 
Account"  is  not  given. 

STOCKING'S  JOURNAL.  "An  Interesting  Journal  of  Abner 
Stocking  of  Chatham,  Connecticut."  Published  by  his  rel 
atives  after  his  decease.  Catskill  Eagle  Office,  1810.  A 
copy  of  this  journal  may  be  found  in  the  Prince  Collection 
of  the  Boston  Public  Library.  Stocking  was  a  private  in 
Hanchett's  company. 

MORISON'S  JOURNAL.  A  copy  of  this  very  rare  journal 
is  in  the  library  of  the  Pennsylvania  Historical  Society. 
It  was  written  by  George  Morison,  a  volunteer  in  Hendricks 's 
company,  and  printed  at  Hagerstown,  Maryland,  in  1803. 
An  account  of  the  assault  on  Quebec,  taken  from  this  jour 
nal,  is  printed  in  the  "Pennsylvania  Magazine,"  Vol.  XIV, 
1890,  with  a  brief  sketch  of  Morison's  career.  This  society 
has  kindly  permitted  me  to  have  a  copy  made  of  the  journal. 
This  I  shall  present  to  the  library  of  Harvard  College. 

FRANCIS  NICHOLS'  PAPERS.  These  papers  have  recently 
come  into  possession  of  the  Pennsylvania  Historical  Society. 
Portions  have  been  printed  in  their  Historical  Magazine. 

CHARLES  DENNIS  RUSCOE  D'ERES'  MEMOIRS.  Published 
at  Exeter,  1800;  begins  with  the  fall  of  Montgomery.  A 
copy  in  Harvard  College  Library.  This  is  a  small  book 
of  little  value. 

THE  JOURNAL  OF  COLONEL  RUDOLPHUS  RITZEMA,  of  the 
1st  New  York  regiment,  from  August  8,  1775,  to  March 


328        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION   TO    QUEBEC 

30,  1776,  now  in  the  New  York  Historical  Society,  and 
printed  in  Magazine  of  American  History,  February,  1877. 
This  journal  becomes  of  value  in  this  connection  only  after 
January  1,  1776. 


^NGLISH,   FRENCH   AND    CANADIAN   JOURNALS 

LETTER  OF  COLONEL  (generally  known  as  Major.)  HENRY 
CALDWELL,  written  on  board  the  Hunter,  British  armed  ves 
sel.  Relates  particularly  to  the  attack  on  Quebec. 

JOURNAL  OF  THE  MOST  REMARKABLE  OCCURRENCES  IN 
QUEBEC  FROM  THE  14TH  OF  NOVEMBER,  1775,  TO  THE  7TH  OF 
MAY,  1776.  By  an  officer  of  the  garrison.  Printed  in  the  col 
lections  of  the  New  York  Historical  Society  for  the  year.  1880. 
This  journal,  or  one  very  similar  to  it  in  language  and  con 
tents,  appears  in  "William  Smith's  History  of  Canada,  1815," 

JOURNAL  OF  THE  SIEGE  AND  BLOCKADE  OF  QUEBEC  BY 
THE  AMERICAN  REBELS,  in  autumn  of  1775  and  winter  of 
1776.  Manuscript  last  noted  as  in  possession  of  Hon.  J.  M. 
Fraser,*  Esq.,  who  allowed  a  copy  of  it  to  be  made  for  the 
use  of  the  Literary  and  Historical  Society  of  Quebec. 
Printed  by  that  society  in  1875. 

AINSLIE'S  JOURNAL.  This  is  a  journal  by  one  Thomas 
Ainslie  of  the  most  remarkable  occurrences  in  the  Province 
of  Quebec,  from  the  appearance  of  the  rebels  in  Septem 
ber,  1775,  until  their  retreat  the  6th  of  May,  1776.  "Sit 
mihi  fas  audita  loqui:"— Virgil.  The  manuscript  is  in  the 
Harvard  University  Library.  I  think  it  has  never  been 
printed.  See  there,  Vol.  I.  Sparks  Manuscripts.  It  is 
probably  the  best  British  journal  extant. 

*  The  preface  of  this  journal  says  it  was  written  either  by  Lieut. 
Patrick  Daly,  of  McLean's  regiment  or  Mr.  Hugh  Finlay.  [En.] 


CONTEMPORARY    JOURNALS  329 

UNKNOWN  AUTHOR'S  JOURNAL.  I  think  probably  Cap 
tain  Owen's.  The  author  was  evidently  an  artillery  officer, 
stationed  most  of  the  time  on  the  ramparts.  Manuscript 
also  in  Sparks  Manuscripts. 

JOURNAL  OF  THE  SIEGE  OF  QUEBEC,  1775.  From  the 
manuscripts  of  George  Chalmers.  Bought  in  London  1843. 
Journal  of  the  Siege  from  December  1,  1775.  Earliest  entry 
is  December  5 ;  the  last  May  9,  1776. 

JOURNAL  OF  THE  SIEGE  OF  QUEBEC  IN  1775-76.  Edited 
by  W.  T.  P.  Short,  London,  1824.  Mentioned  in  Winsor's 
" Critical  History  of  America." 

A  NARRATIVE.  Written  by  James  Thompson,  who  •  was 
during  the  siege  acting  engineer.  Is  quoted  at  length  by 
J.  M.  Lemoine  in  his  "Quebec,  Past  and  Present."  Mr. 
Thompson's  papers  are  now  in  the  possession  of  the  Literary 
and  Historical  Society  of  Quebec. 

FRENCH  JOURNALS.  John  G.  Shea,  Esq.,  of  New  York, 
brought  from  Canada  two  journals  in  manuscript,  written 
respectively  by  French  notaries;  one  at  Quebec  and  the 
other  at  Three  Rivers,  "about  the  Invasions  of  the  Bos- 
tonnais. ' ' 

Le  Memoire  de  Badeaux,  ou  Journal  commence  aux  Trois- 
Rivieres  le  18  May,  1775.  In  1873  the  manuscript  of  this 
journal  was  in  the  possession  of  M.  Amable  Berthelot,  of 
Quebec. 

Le  Memoire  de  Sanguinet,  Ou  Le  Temoin  Oculaire. 

Des  Extracts  du  Memoire  de  M.  Berthelot.  It  is  not 
known  whether  the  manuscript  exists. 

Le  Memoire  de  M.  Lorimer,  intitule:  Mes  Services. 
These    four    journals    preceding   have    been    copied    and 


330        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

printed  in  M.  L'Abbe  Verreau's  Invasion  du  Canada,  Mon 
treal,  1873. 

Le  Memoire  de  B.  D'Artigny.     Abstracts  are  quoted  in 
Faucher  de  St.  Maurice 's  Sketch  of  Montgomery. 


APPENDIX  B 

SUBSEQUENT  CAKEEES  OF  MEMBEES  OF  THE 
EXPEDITION 


ERHAPS  the  reader  would  be  interested 
to  hear  what  fate  befell  those  heroes  who 
thus  passed  alive  through  famine,  pesti 
lence  and  battle  to  secure  to  their  pos 
terity  our  American  institutions  and  the 
countless  blessings  which  have  fallen  to  our  country 
since  the  war  of  the  Revolution.  The  good  steel  of 
which  they  were  made  had  been  well  tempered  by  their 
sufferings,  and  a  remarkable  number  became  very 
prominent  in  the  history  of  the  Eepublic.  Almost  all 
the  officers,  as  soon  as  exchanged,  reenlisted. 

Morgan  fought  in  almost  every  battle  of  the  war,  was 
the  hero  of  Cowpens,  and  turned  the  tide  for  the  Americans 
with  his  celebrated  rifle  corps  on  many  a  hard-fought  field. 
He  rose  to  be  a  major-general,  and  was  elected  a  member  of 
Congress.  He  died  at  Winchester,  Virginia,  after  a  long 
and  painful  illness,  in  1799. 

Captain  Matthew  Smith  was  promoted  to  a  majority. 
In  1778-9  he  served  as  a  member  of  the  Supreme  Executive 
Council  of  Pennsylvania,  and  was  at  one  time  acting  vice- 
president  of  that  state.  He  died  at  Milton,  Pennsylvania, 
July  21,  1794. 

Lieutenant-Colonel  Greene  distinguished  himself  by  his 
heroic  defense  of  Red  Bank  in  1777,  and  continued  in  the 

331 


332        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

service  till  1781,  when  he  was  attacked  in  his  quarters,  near 
Croton  River,  N.  Y.,  by  a  party  of  refugees,  overpowered  and 
barbarously  murdered,  his  corpse  mutilated  and  flung  into 
the  woods. 

Of  the  captains  of  Greene's  division,  Thayer  distin 
guished  himself  as  a  commander  of  the  gallant  little  garri 
son  of  Fort  Mifflin,  lost  an  eye  at  Monmouth  and  retired 
in  1781,  with  the  rank  of  major.  He  was  for  several  years 
brigadier-general  of  the  militia  of  Providence  county,  Rhode 
Island.  He  was  killed  by  a  fall  from  his  horse  in  1800, 
in  the  sixty-third  year  of  his  age. 

Topham  left  the  army  a  colonel.  He  was  for  many  years 
a  deputy  to  the  General  Assembly  from  Newport.  He  died 
a  natural  death  in  1793,  aged  fifty-five  years.  He  had  eleven 
sons  and  twin  daughters.  Ten  of  the  sons  went  to  sea ;  none 
of  these  ever  returned  or  were  heard  of  afterwards. 

Major  Bigelow,  at  the  head  of  the  15th  Massachusetts, 
was  at  Saratoga,  Valley  Forge  and  West  Point.  He  died  in 
1790,  aged  fifty  years. 

Major  Meigs  was  in  1777  made  a  colonel,  and  for  a  bril 
liant  expedition  to  Long  Island  that  year  received  the  thanks 
of  Congress  and  a  sword.  He  commanded  a  regiment  under 
Wayne  at  the  capture  of  Stony  Point.  In  1816  he  was  agent 
for  Indian  affairs,  and  later  was  the  first  provisional  gover 
nor  of  Ohio.  He  died  January  28,  1823,  at  the  Cherokee 
Agency,  aged  eighty-three  years. 

Lieutenant  Christian  Febiger,  afterwards  colonel  of  the 
2d  Virginia,  with  the  llth  Virginia,  led  one  of  the  assaulting 
columns  at  Stony  Point.  He  came  to  be  well  known  in  the 
army  as  "Old  Denmark,"  and  left  the  service  a  brigadier- 
general  by  brevet.  He  served  with  distinction  from  Bunker 


CAPTAIN  DEARBORN 

Afterward  Major-General  U.  S.  A.,  Minister  to  Portugal,  Member  of  Congress, 

and  Secretary  of  War 
By  courtesy  of  the  Culumet.  Club  of  Chicago.     From  llu-  iirit/innf  jitirtmi/  by  Sluarl 


SUBSEQUENT    CAREERS  333 

Hill  to  Yorktown.  In  1791  he  held  the  office  of  treasurer  of  the 
state  of  Pennsylvania.  He  died  in  that  office  in  1796,  at  fifty. 
He  was  captain  of  the  First  City  Troop  of  Philadelphia. 

Captain  Dearborn,  afterwards  of  Colonel  Scammell's  regi 
ment,  fought  at  Ticonderoga,  Monmouth  and  Saratoga.  On 
Scammell's  death  he  commanded  the  regiment.  The  war 
over,  he  settled  in  Gardiner,  Maine,  and  under  President 
Washington  was  United  States  marshal  for  the  district  of 
Maine.  He  was  twice  elected  to  Congress,  and  was  for 
eight  years  secretary  of  war  under  Jefferson.  During 
Madison's  administration  he  was  collector  of  the  port  of 
Boston.  In  1812  he  was  commissioned  major-general  in  the 
United  States  Army,  and  under  President  Monroe  was  its 
commander.-in-chief.  In  1822  he  was  appointed  minister  to 
Portugal.  He  died  in  Roxbury  in  1829,  aged  seventy-eight 
years. 

Ward  was  commissioned  a  major  in  Colonel  Christopher 
Greene's  regiment,  fought  at  Red  Bank,  participated  in  the 
retreat  from  Long  Island,  and  shared  the  privations  of  Val 
ley  Forge.  Later  he  was  commissioned  lieutenant-colonel, 
and  later  still  was  given  a  regiment.  After  the  war  he 
became  a  merchant  at  Warwick,  Rhode  Island,  subsequently 
at  New  York,  under  the  firm  name  of  Samuel  Ward  and 
Brother.  He  died  in  New  York  in  1832,  in  the  seventy-sixth 
year  of  his  age,  surviving,  I  think,  all  his  fellow  officers. 
He  had  been  a  member  of  the  Annapolis  convention,  and  of 
the  Hartford  convention,  where  he  exerted  his  influence  in 
behalf  of  the  government.  He  was  also  president  of  the 
New  York  Marine  Insurance  Company. 

Lieutenant-Colonel  Enos,  after  his  court  martial,  with 
drew  from  the  army,  but  afterwards  accepted  a  commission, 
and  was  at  one  time,  with  the  rank  of  brigadier-general, 


334        ARNOLD'S   EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

commander  of  all  the  troops  of  Vermont.*  But  I  have  not 
been  able  to  discover  that  he  ever  again  saw  service  in  the 
field.  He  served  nearly  ten  years  in  the  State  Legislature, 
was  a  commissioner  to  New  Hampshire  during  the  Vermont 
controversy,  and  was  prominent  in  the  annals  of  the  state  after 
the  war.  He  died  in  Colchester,  Vermont,  in  1808,  at  the 
ripe  age  of  seventy-two  years. 

Captain  McCobb,  on  his  return  from  the  expedition, 
raised  a  regiment  in  Lincoln  county,  was  commissioned  its 
colonel,  joined  Washington's  army  at  Cambridge,  and  took 
part  in  the  Rhode  Island  campaign.  In  command  of  another 
regiment  he  took  part  in  the  unfortunate  expedition  against 
Castine.  In  the  subsequent  official  investigation  into  the 
causes  of  this  failure,  it  is  recorded  that  McCobb 's  command 
acquitted  itself  with  honor,  and  after  losing  some  men  and 
officers,  he  brought  away  the  remainder  of  his  command  in 
tact,  assisting  others  of  the  forces  also  in  retreat.  After  the 
war.  he  represented  his  townsmen  as  a  representative  to  the 
general  court;  and  at  his  death  in  1791,  at  forty-seven  years 
of  age,  was  commander  of  the  military  division  of  Maine, 
with  rank  of  brigadier-general. 

Dr.  Senter  built  up  an  extensive  practice,  but  died  at 
forty-six  years  of  age,  in  1799,  at  the  height  of  his  reputa 
tion  and  usefulness. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Spring  died  in  1819,  at  seventy-three  years 
of  age.  On  his  return  from  Quebec  he  left  the  army,  and 
was  a  minister  of  Newburyport  for  many  years.  He  was 
one  of  the  founders  of  the  Massachusetts  Missionary  Society, 
of  the  Andover  Theological  Seminary  and  the  American 
Board  of  Commissioners  for,  Foreign  Missions. 

*  Enos  was  in  service  as  a  Connecticut  officer  in  1778,  according  to 
Forbes.  (See  Hist.  Coll.  of  the  Mahoning  Valley,  Vol.  I.,  1876,  Youngs- 
town,  0.) 


SUBSEQUENT    CAREERS  335 

Ensign  Charles  Porterfield  rose  to  be  lieutenant-colonel, 
and  died  soon  after  the  battle  of  Camden  from  wounds  re 
ceived  in  the  early  part  of  that  action. 

Dr.  Thomas  Gibson  died  at  Valley  Forge. 

Captain  Eleazar  Oswald  retired  from  the  army  in  1778,  a 
lieutenant-colonel.  He  participated  in  the  affair  at  Compo, 
and  did  gallant  service  at  Monmouth.  Soon  after  leaving 
the  army  he  was  appointed  public  printer  at  Philadelphia. 
In  command  of  a  regiment  of  artillery  in  the  French  Army  of 
Liberty,  he  served  with  credit  under  Dumourier  in  the  battle 
of  Jemappe.  He  died  in  the  United  States  of  smallpox  in 
1795. 

Lieutenant  Sylvanus  Shaw,  promoted  to  a  captaincy,  was 
killed  at  Red  Bank.  Lieutenant  Stevens  and  "William  Hum 
phrey  became  captains  in  line  regiments. 

Boyd  was  captured,  and  hideously  tortured  to  death  by 
the  Indians  in  1779,  while  serving  in  Sullivan's  expedition  in 
western  New  York. 

John  Joseph  Henry  became  a  judge  and  president  of  the 
Second  Judicial  District  of  Pennsylvania,  but  a  broken  consti 
tution  carried  him  to  an  early  grave.  On  account  of  inju 
ries  received  and  disease  contracted  during  the  campaign,  he 
was  unable  to  accept  promotion  tendered  him  when  ex 
changed,  and  never  took  the  field  again. 

Lieutenant  Michael  Simpson  fought  at  Trenton,  Prince 
ton,  Brandywine  and  White  Plains,  and  after  the  war  was 
commissioned  a  brigadier-general  in  the  Pennsylvania  Mi 
litia. 

Lieutenant  Archibald  Steele  lived  to  be  ninety-one  years 
of  age,  and  died  in  Philadelphia  October.  19,  1832.  He 
was  at  one  time  appointed  deputy  quartermaster-general 


336        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION   TO    QUEBEC 

with  rank  of  colonel  in  the  Continental  line,  and  held  for 
some  time  the  position  of  military  store-keeper  in  Phila 
delphia. 

James  Crouch  of  Smith's  company  rose  from  the  ranks 
to  a  colonelcy.  Private  David  Harris,  also  of  Smith's,  be 
came  a  captain  in  the  Pennsylvania  line. 

Sabattis  was  killed  in  a  fight  on  the  Kennebec  with  a 
settler  named  Ephraim  Brown.  Natanis  fought  again  on 
the  side  of  the  Americans  at  Saratoga;  what  end  he  met 
history  has  not  revealed. 

Of  Captain  Hanchett's  life,  after  being  exchanged,  we 
have  no  particulars.  He  died  in  1816,  aged  seventy-five, 
at  the  West  Parish  in  Suffield.* 

Of  Captain  Goodrich  I  have  no  account,  f 

Of  the  subsequent  career  of  Captains  Scott  and  Wil 
liams  of  Enos's  division  I  have  as  yet  found  no  trace.  It 

*  Copied  from  account  lent  me  by  Rev.  M.  W.  Hanchett,  Syracuse, 
N.  Y.:  [Eo.] 

"  Capt.  Oliver  Hanchett  was  captain  of  a  company  of  over  one 
hundred,  formed  in  May,  1775,  at  Sumeld,  Conn.,  and  which  was  prob 
ably  at  Bunker  Hill." 

From  historical  address,  at  two  hundredth  anniversary  of  Suffield, 
October  12,  1870. 

"  In  September,  1775,  the  company  was  in  Quebec  expedition.  .  .  . 
In  the  march  many  companies  lost  part  or  all  their  supplies,  but 
Capt.  Hanchett's  care  preserved  those  of  his  company  and  enabled  them 
to  share  with  the  others.  In  a  memorial  which  he  addressed  to  the 
Connecticut  legislature  he  says :  '  Having  arrived  before  Quebec,  in 
endeavoring  to  take  that  city,  by  storm  and  by  fortune  of  war,  the 
memorialist  and  most  of  the  survivors  of  his  company  were  captured, 
he  himself  put  in  irons  and  held  captive  until  October,  1776.  During 
the  period  of  captivity  he  advanced  to  his  company  nearly  $1,000  and 
thus  spared  them  much  privation.' "  He  was  afterwards  "  remuner 
ated  "  (reimbursed)  by  the  Legislature. 

t  Captain  Goodrich  may  have  been  William  Goodrich,  of  Stockbridge, 
Mass.  He  was  Major  in  Col.  John  Paterson's  regiment  up  to  1780. 


LIEUT.    COL.    EDWARD    ANTILL. 

From  the  original  painting .     Loaned  by  Mrs. 

Thornton  M.  Niven,  Dobbs  Ferry,  N.  Y. 


SUBSEQUENT    CAREERS  337 

would   be    interesting   to    learn    whether   they   removed   by 
later,  acts  the  impression  which  their  defection  created. 

Of  Mrs.  Jemima  Warner  or  Mrs.  Grier  I  can  only  find 
this  clue— an  entry  in  Haskell's  Journal,  under  date  of 
April  18,  1776:  "A  woman  of  the  Pennsylvania  troops 
was  killed  to-day  by  accident— a  soldier  carelessly  snapping 
his  musket,  which  proved  to  be  loaded. ' ' 

Colonel  James  Livingston  was  at  the  battle  of  Stillwater, 
and  in  command  of  Verplanck's  Point  at  the  time  of  Arnold's 
treason. 

Major  John  Brown  was  killed  in  1780,  in  an  ambuscade 
on  the  Mohawk. 

Captain  John  Lamb  lived  to  be  severely  wounded  by  an 
other  grapeshot  at  Compo  Hill,  Conn.,  in  1777.  He  fought 
at  Yorktown.  After  the  war  he  was  a  member  of  the  New 
York  General  Assembly,  and  was  raised  to  the  rank  of 
brigadier-general.  He  was  also  collector  of  the  customs  at 
the  port  of  New  York.  He  died  in  1800,  aged  sixty-five 
years. 

Edward  Antill  became  a  lieutenant-colonel  in  the  Conti 
nental  army.* 

*  Antill,  like  Samuel  B.  Webb  and  some  other  officers,  missed  most  or 
all  his  chances  of  distinction  by  a  long  captivity.  He  was  born  at 
Piscataqua,  N.  J.,  April  11,  1742,  studied  law,  and  removed  to  Quebec 
where  he  practised  his  profession  until,  refusing  to  volunteer  for  the 
defense  of  the  city,  he  was  obliged  to  leave.  Joining  Montgomery,  he 
was  made  chief  engineer.  After  the  attack,  Wooster  sent  him  with 
the  news  to  Congress,  which  body  commissioned  him  a  lieutenant-colonel 
of  Hazen's  regiment.  In  December,  1776,  Congress  sent  him  as  a  re 
cruiting  officer,  backed  by  a  letter  from  Washington,  through  New 
Jersey  and  the  Southern  States.  He  was  captured  when  Sullivan  made 
his  unsuccessful  descent  on  Staten  Island  in  August,  1777.  His  brother 
John,  who  was  in  the  British  service,  secured  his  release  on  parole,  but 
he  was  not  exchanged  until  November,  1780.  He  remained  in  New 
York  until  1785,  and  then  returned  to  Quebec,  and  died  at  St.  John  in 
1789.  [ED.] 
30 


338        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

Of  Colonel  Donald  Campbell  I  have  no  account.  Henry 
states  that  he  was  court-martialed  for  his  conduct  at  Pres 
de  Ville  and  acquitted.* 

As  for  the  King's  officers  who  so  gallantly  and  steadfastly 
defended  the  fortress,  Governor  Guy  Carleton  succeeded  Sir 
Henry  Clinton  in  1781  as  commander-in-chief  of  the  British 
forces  in  America,  and  so  continued  until  after  the  treaty  of 
peace.  In  1786  he  was  again  appointed  governor  of  Quebec, 
Nova  Scotia  and  New  Brunswick,  and  was  raised  to  the 
peerage  as  a  reward  for  his  distinguished  services,  under  the 
title  of  Lord  Dorchester.  He  died  in  1808,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-five. 

MacLean  in  1779  defended  successfully  the  fort  in  Penob- 
scot,  Maine,  against  Lovell  and  Saltonstall.  He  was  pro 
moted  to  be  a  colonel  in  1780. 

Caldwell  lived  to  a  green  old  age  and  died  in  Quebec  in 

1810. 

*He  appears  as  Deputy  Q.  M.  General  of  the  N.  Y.  Department,  up 
to  June,  1784. 


ANY  interesting  relics  of  Arnold's  Expe 
dition  to  Quebec  have  been  found  from 
time  to  time,  along  the  route  of  its  march. 
There  follows  a  brief  description  of  some 
of  those  which  were  actually  seen  by  the 
author,  or  the  existence  of  which  was  positively  certi 
fied  to  him : 

Philip  Clare,  a  workman  for.  Augustus  J.  P.  Dudley 
working  on  a  dam  at  Ledge  Falls,  near  Eustis,  in  1895,  un 
earthed  in  a  heap  of  muck  from  the  bottom  of  the  river  an 
old  bayonet;  undoubtedly  this  was  one  of  Arnold's. 

I  was  shown  by  Charles  Spirins,  who  has  opened  a  farm 
at  the  first  of  the  second  chain  of  ponds,  an  ax-head  and 
table  knife;  the  handles  were  gone  and  the  blade  of  the  knife 
almost  destroyed  by  rust.  The  ax-head  was  such  as  has 
now  long  passed  out  of  use,  and  resembled  an  iron  toma 
hawk.  Mr.  Spirins  plowed  them  up  in  the  field  which  was 
Arnold's  camp-ground  at  that  place. 

Mr.  Parsons,  the  proprietor  of  Parsons'  hotel,  near  Bog 
Brook,  told  me  that  one  of  his  men  had  ploughed  up  from 
under  an  old  stump  the  barrel  of  a  queen's  arm  with  a  bayo 
net.  This  was  only  a  few  years  ago.  I  afterwards  learned 
that  the  workman's  name  was  Will  Bemis,  and  that  the  relic 
is  now  in  the  possession  of  Edgar  Jones,  of  Stratton,  Maine. 

339 


340        ARNOLD'S   EXPEDITION   TO    QUEBEC 

Mr.  Kushner,  whom  I  met,  was  one  of  the  oldest  settlers 
of  the  Dead  River  valley,  and  nearly  ninety  years  of  age. 
He  told  me  that  he  had  found  under  an  elm  stump  on  his 
farm,  opposite  Flagstaff  and  not  far  from  Kushner  brook, 
still  another  bayonet.  It  was  buried  under  two  feet  of  soil. 
This  is  now  in  the  State  House  at  Augusta,  Maine. 

A  good  many  years  ago  some  boys  in  swimming  at  Ledge 
or  Arnold's  Falls,  I  think  the  former,  found  one  or  two 
quarts  of  bullets.  They  were  very  much  worn  by  the  action 
of  the  water  and  so  coated  that  until  they  were  weighed  in 
the  hand  one  would  have  taken  them  for  unusually  round 
pebbles.  One  of  these  was  given  me  at  Eustis. 

As  I  was  passing  with  my  guide  over  the  rocks  at  Ledge 
Falls,  to  get  a  good  point  of  view  for  my  camera,  I  saw  him 
stoop  and  pick  up  something  which  resembled  a  bit  of  an 
old  glass  bottle.  It  proved  to  be  the  flint  of  a  flintlock  gun. 
It  was  in  a  path  across  a  ledge,  which  was  almost  bare  of 
earth,  though  patched  here  and  there  with  moss.  A  path 
had  been  worn  across  the  ledge  by  log  drivers,  and  the  flint 
bore  marks  upon  it  as  if  it  had  been  turned  up  by  some 
driver's  cogs.  Of  course  it  is  presumptuous  to  claim  that 
this  was  a  relic  of  Arnold's  Expedition;  still  flint  is  an 
enduring  substance,  and  this  piece  may  have  lain  on  the 
ledge  undisturbed  for  one  hundred  and  twenty  years,  or 
have  been  washed  up  by  the  water  more  recently  during 
some  unusual  flood.  It  was  customary  to  carry  large  pack 
ages  of  these  flints  among  the  army  supplies.  It  is  to  be 
borne  in  mind,  too,  that  at  Ledge  Falls  the  army  met  with 
its  greatest  loss  of  provisions  and  ammunition. 

"With  regard  to  the  bateaux,  I  heard  as  I  passed  up  the 
Dead  River  that  several  men  of  that  region  and  of  the 
present  generation  claim  that  certain  of  these  bateaux  are 
still  to  be  seen  on  the  bottom  of  the  lakes,  or  at  the  bottom 


RELICS    OF    THE    EXPEDITION  341 

of  the  Arnold  River.  I  was  on  the  lookout,  therefore,  to 
trace  this  story.  On  Lake  Megantic  I  met  a  young  fellow 
named  Fred  Braddock,  who,  without  any  leading  questions 
from  me,  told  me  the  following  story.  He  said  that  his 
father,  Charles  E.  Braddock,  who  used  often  to  follow  the 
old  whisky  trail  over  Louise  Mountain  to  Hathan  bog,  had 
often  told  him  that  he  had  found  a  boat  there,  wrhich  he 
believed  was  one  of  Arnold's  bateaux;  that  he  had  de 
scribed  the  boat  as  not  very  large  and  too  old  to  be  of  any 
service,  and  stated  that  it  was  bound  with  brass  nails  and 
staples  of  a  design  and  character  which  made  him  certain 
that  it  must  be  very  old.  He  told  me  that  William  Latty,  a 
guide  at  Three  Rivers,  could  tell  me  more  about  it,  for  he 
himself  had  seen  the  boat.  I  was  unable  to  find  Latty  in 
the  short  time  I  had  at  Three  Rivers.  The  tradition  had 
grown  somewhat  in  definiteness  at  Three  Rivers,  and  peo 
ple  said  that  two  or  three  of  these  bateaux  had  recently 
been  seen  in  the  Arnold  River.  If  they  were  under  water 
the  wood  would  of  course  withstand  decay  much  longer. 

From  a  letter  reprinted  in  the  edition  of  Henry's  Jour 
nal  published  by  Munsell,  we  learn  that  during  the  survey 
of  the  boundary  between  Maine  and  Canada  in  1844,  one 
of  the  engineers,  while  crossing  the  swampy  highlands,  ob 
served  at  one  point  a  hollow  sound  where  he  struck  his 
Jacob's  staff  into  the  soil.  On  scraping  away  the  moss  he 
discovered  an  entire  bateau,  built  of  sawed  wood,  such  as 
was  not  indigenous  to  that  locality.  It  is  more  than  prob 
able  that  this  was  one  of  the  bateaux  abandoned  by  Arnold's 
men  on  the  trail  across  the  divide. 

In  the  fall  of  1858  a  young  man  passing  up  the  Dead 
River  valley  and  across  the  chain  of  ponds  (the  head  of 
the  river),  landing  at  the  Arnold  trails,  found  beside  the 
trail  between  the  Dead  River  waters  and  the  Chaudiere,  the 


342        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

remains  of  an  old  musket,  apparently  having  been  left 
standing  beside  a  tree,  where  it  had  rotted  down.  The 
stock  was  entirely  gone  and  the  barrel  and  mountings  had 
fallen  down  together  at  the  foot  of  the  tree.  It  is  conjec 
tured  that  the  musket  had  been  left  there  by  one  of  Arnold's 
soldiers,  and  the  barrel  is  now  in  possession  of  Mr.  Colum 
bus  Steward,  of  North  Anson,  Maine.  The  following  ap 
peared  in  the  "Maine  Farmer"  in  1877:  "A  Centennial 
Relic.— Mr.  Sheppard  Harville,  of  Lincolnville,  has  in  his 
possession  a  French  rifle  gun-barrel,  that  he  found  over 
thirty  years  ago  on  the  Dead  River  at  the  foot  of  Arnold's 
Falls,  so  called  from  the  fact  of  its  being  on  the  route  that 
Arnold  marched  with  his  army  through  the  wilderness  to 
Point  Levi,  Quebec.  Mr.  Harville,  then  of  Solon,  Charles 
Folsom  and  others  of  Skowhegan,  Hartley  Green  and  Asa 
Green  were  the  boatmen  on  the  drive  near  where  this  gun- 
barrel  was  found  by  Mr.  Harville.  When  discovered  by 
him  on  the  trail  near  the  falls  it  was  resting  against  a 
rock.  The  stock  had  entirely  rotted  off,  and  it  is  supposed 
to  have  been  left  there  by  one  of  Arnold's  men  one  hun 
dred  years  ago  last  September." 

The  "Maine  Standard,"  a  paper  formerly  published  at 
Augusta,  Maine,  contained  in  its  issue  of  June  28,  1867,  the 
account  of  a  curious  discovery  made  by  the  workmen  in  the 
machine  shop  of  the  Edwards  cottonmill  in  that  city.  In 
sawing  lengthwise  a  piece  of  thick  lumber,  taken  from  the 
body  of  a  large  rock-maple  tree,  the  saw  encountered,  near 
the  middle  of  the  log,  a  pine  spile,  which  it  cut  off  in  its 
progress,  and  on  opening  the  parts  thus  sundered,  the  spile 
was  withdrawn,  and  the  hole  found  to  contain  a  small  bit  of 
paper,  carefully  folded  and  plugged  up.  On  opening  the 
paper  the  following  words  were  recorded: 

1775 

J.   B.   DUNKIRK 
WITH   ARNOLD 


RELICS    OF    THE    EXPEDITION  343 

"J.  B.  Dunkirk"  was  doubtless  one  of  Arnold's  soldiers 
or  officers,  who  had  the  curiosity  to  bore  a  hole  into  a 
rock-maple  tree,  deposit  his  name  therein,  and  confine  it 
there  on  the  doubtful  chance  of  its  being  brought  to  light 
again  by  some  future  generation.  The  tree  had  grown 
over  the  spile  eight  inches  in  thickness,  and  was  perfectly 
sound  and  solid  that  distance  to  the  bark.  The  number 
of  rings  in  the  wood,  answering  each  to  a  year's  growth, 
as  counted  by  one  of  the  workmen,  was  about  ninety.  The 
paper  is  coarse  and  white — old-fashioned  hand-paper — and 
the  words  upon  it  appear  to  have  been  written,  not  in  ink, 
but  with  a  lead  pencil.  This,  perhaps,  will  account  for 
their  preservation. 

The  lumber  from  the  tree  in  which  the  paper  was  in 
serted  was  purchased  of  Mr.  Columbus  Howard  of  Sidney. 
Probably  the  tree  grew  in  that  town,  which  is  next  above 
Augusta,  on  the  west  side  of  the  river.  The  interesting 
relic  was  deposited  among  the  cabinet  of  curiosities  and 
antiquities  at  the  State  Capitol  in  Augusta. 


APPENDIX  D 


INFER  from  Mr.  Codman's  remarks 
about  Enos,  that  he  had  not  read  the 
defence  of  that  officer,  published  in  the 
Magazine  of  American  History  for  May, 
1885.  As  an  item  of  historical  impor 
tance  I  reprint  it  herewith.  It  is  written  by  Col.  Enos 's 
descendant,  Eev.  Horace  E.  Hayden,  librarian  of  the 
Wyoming  Historical  and  Genealogical  Society,  Wilkes- 
Barre,  Pa.—  [ED.] 


GENERAL  ROGER  ENOS 

A    LOST    CHAPTER    OF    ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    CANADA,    1775 

It  is  doubtful  if  any  officer  of  the  Revolutionary  Army, 
always  excepting  Benedict  Arnold,  has  so  excited  the  ire,  or 
called  forth  the  prejudices  of  historical  writers  as  Roger 
Enos,  Lieutenant-Colonel  commanding  the  rear  division  of 
the  memorable  expedition  to  Canada  under  Arnold  in  1775. 
It  is  a  fact,  familiar,  to  readers  of  American  history,  that 
Colonel  Enos  returned  from  that  expedition  with  his  division 
before  the  army  reached  Canada.  Judge  Henry,  in  his  jour 
nal  of  the  march,  speaks  of  that  return  as  a  "desertion"; 
B.  J.  Lossing,  Hon.  I.  N.  Arnold,  and  others  have  adopted 
Henry's  word.  Bancroft,  in  his  History  of  the  United  States, 
stigmatizes  Enos  as  "a  craven,"  and  thus  the  charges  are  re 
peated  by  modern  writers  ad  libitum.  So  far,  however,  none 
have  accused  Enos  of  being  a  "traitor."  This  one  more  depth 
remains  to  which  coming  writers  may  consign  him. 

344 


GENERAL   ROGER   ENOS  345 

Correspondence  with  several  authors,  who  have  adopted 
Henry's  language,  shows  that  Colonel  Enos's  case  has  re 
ceived  from  no  one  an  exhaustive  or.  impartial  investigation. 
If  he  was  guilty  of  cowardice,  or  desertion,  his  name  should 
be  placed,  in  the  history  of  his  times,  just  below  that  of  Arnold. 
If  he  was  not  guilty  of  either  crime,  where  should  we  place  the 
names  of  those  who  have  so  maligned  him?  It  is  remarkable 
how  very  difficult  it  is  for  the  present  age  to  view  calmly  and 
with  an  even  balance  the  characters  who  acted  on  either  side 
of  the  struggle  during  the  seven  years'  war  for  American 
Independence.  The  iconoclasts  of  the  past  twenty  years  have 
done  much  to  bring  about  a  more  judicious  examination  of 
that  period.  Sabine's  "Loyalists"  was  a  manifestation  of 
fairness  that  at  the  time  almost  ' '  took  our  breath. ' '  Lowell 's 
work  on  the  "Hessians  and  other  German  Auxiliaries"  has 
corrected  many  very  one-sided  opinions  of  that  unfortunate 
class  of  British  troops.  Parkman's  most  charming  volume, 
"Montcalm  and  Wolfe,"  has  finally  toned  down  materially  the 
glory  of  martyrdom  with  which  we  have  always  surrounded 
the  sad  history  of  the  Acadians.  Possibly  ere  the  present  cen 
tury  has  expired  the  student  of  American  history,  not  the 
mere  book-maker,  may  have  reached  that  large-hearted  point 
of  view  expressed  in  the  words  "audi  alteram  partem." 
With  this  invaluable  motto,  so  very  important  in  judging  of 
events  in  which  we  were  not  factors,  it  may  be  worth  while 
to  ask 

I.  Who  was  Roger  Enos? 

He  was  the  son  of  David  and  Mary  (Gillet)  Eno  or  Enos 
of  Simsbury,  Connecticut,  the  great-grandson  of  James  Eno, 
who  came  from  England  and  settled  at  Windsor,  Conn.,  1646. 
He  was  born,  Simsbury,  Conn.,  1729,  and  died,  Colchester, 
Vt,  October  6,  1808,  set.  79.  He  was  forty-six  years  of 
age  when  the  march  to  Canada  occurred.  He  entered  at  an 
31 


346        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION   TO    QUEBEC 

early  age  into  the  military  service  of  the  Crown  during 
the  French  War.  From  1759  to  the  close  of  the  war,  he  was 
actively  engaged  in  the  field.  Nor  was  this  military  service  of 
constraint.  His  name  heads  the  list  of  volunteers  from  his 
own  town— then  Windsor— for  the  Canada  Campaign  of  1759 
and  1760.  The  Assembly  of  Connecticut  successively  pro 
moted  him  for  his  services  in  the  field  as  follows :  Ensign  of 
the  First  Company,  Colonel  Phineas  Lyman's  Regiment, 
March,  1760;  Lieutenant  of  the  same  company  at  Montreal, 
Canada,  September,  1760;  Adjutant  of  the  Regiment  1761, 
during  which  year  he  also  acted  as  Captain-Lieutenant  of 
the  First  Company;  First  Lieutenant  and  of  the  same  com 
pany,  1762;  Captain  of  the  Fifth  Company,  Colonel  Israel 
Putnam's  Regiment,  1764,  in  the  expedition  sent  that  year 
against  the  Indians.  He  accompanied  his  command  on  the 
expedition  to  the  West  Indies  in  1762,  which  laid  siege  to  and 
captured  the  city  of  Havana;  an  enterprise  as  successful  to 
the  arms  of  Great  Britain  as  it  was  disastrous  to  her  army, 
which  was  decimated  by  the  climate.  In  1773  he  was  ap 
pointed  on  a  commission  composed  of  Colonels  Israel  Putnam, 
Rufus  Putnam,  Phineas  Lyman,  and  Captain  Roger  Enos, 
sent  to  the  Mississippi  Valley  to  survey  the  lands  granted  by 
the  Crown  to  the  provincial  troops  engaged  in  the  French 
War  and  the  Havana  Campaign.  An  unpublished  journal 
of  this  commission,  kept  by  General  Rufus  Putnam,  is  now 
owned  by  Marietta  College,  Ohio.  The  principal  outcome 
of  this  commission  was  the  colony  settled  at  Natchez,  Missis 
sippi,  by  Colonel  Lyman.  In  1775  Enos  entered  the  Conti 
nental  Army  as  Lieutenant-Colonel  of  the  22d  Regiment  in 
Arnold's  expedition  to  Canada.  He  returned  from  that  ex 
pedition  with  his  command  October  25,  1775,  and  on  December 
1,  1775,  he  was  tried  by  court  martial  on  the  charge  of 
"quitting  his  commanding  officer  without  leave,"  and  was 
"honorably  acquitted." 


GENERAL   ROGER   ENOS  347 

He  resigned  his  commission  in  the  army,  then  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  16th  Connecticut  Regiment,  January  18,  1776.  In 
May,  1777,  he  served  in  a  committee  of  Windsor  citizens  to 
secure  a  bounty  of  £30  to  each  man  who  should  enlist  in  the 
Continental  service.  He  afterwards  commanded  one  of  the 
Connecticut  regiments  thus  raised,  and  stationed  in  the  south 
west  corner  of  the  State.  Late  in  1779  he  left  the  Connecticut 
service  and  moved  to  Vermont,  where,  with  others,  he  settled 
the  town  of  Enosburg,  March,  1780.  In  1781  he  was  ap 
pointed  Brigadier-General,  and  placed  in  command  of  all  the 
Vermont  troops  then  in  service.  In  that  year  he  wrote  to 
General  Washington  announcing  his  return  to  active  service 
in  the  field.  In  1787  he  was  elected  Major-General  of  the  1st 
Division  of  the  State  of  Vermont,  holding  this  position  until 
1791,  when  he  resigned.  Thus  he  was  for  over  thirty  years 
almost  continually  in  the  military  service  of  his  country. 
From  1781  to  1792  he  was  a  member  of  the  Vermont  Board 
of  War;  of  the  State  Assembly;  of  the  House  Committee 
to  settle  the  New  Hampshire  and  Vermont  controversy,  and 
a  Trustee  of  the  University  of  Vermont,  elected  by  the  As 
sembly.  He  was  also  one  of  the  House  Committee  to  con 
sider  the  Vermont  resolutions  passed  by  the  Continental  Con 
gress.  From  his  entrance  into  the  State  in  1779  until  1792, 
a  period  of  twelve  years,  he  was  one  of  the  most  prominent 
actors  and  most  honored  figures  in  the  history  of  Vermont, 
where  none  ever  doubted  his  loyalty  to  the  United  Colonies, 
his  military  capacity,  or  his  moral  courage,  and  where  no 
one  at  this  day  believes  one  word  of  the  charges  made  against 
him  in  regard  to  the  Canada  campaign.  In  1792,  worn  out, 
at  the  age  of  63,  with  his  long  and  active  service,  he  resigned 
all  his  public  offices  and  retired  to  Connecticut,  where  with 
his  daughter,  Mrs.  General  Ira  Allen,  he  passed  his  remain 
ing  days.  He  married,  March  10,  1763,  Jerusha  Hayden,  of 


348        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION   TO    QUEBEC 

Windsor,  Connecticut,  daughter  of  Daniel  and  Esther  (Mone) 
Hayden,  and  had  five  children,  one  of  whom,  Jerusha  Hayden 
Enos,  married  General  Ira  Allen  of  Vermont,  and  one  mar 
ried  Pascal  Paoli,  who  was  one  of  the  four  proprietors  of 
Springfield,  Illinois,  1823,  where  his  descendants  still  reside. 
Such  an  honored  record  of  civil  and  military  services,  drawn 
from  the  published  archives  of  Connecticut  and  Vermont, 
should  cause  the  historian  to  hesitate  before  accepting  the 
second-hand  statements  made  against  General  Enos,  or  at  least 
prevent  a  one-sided  judgment  of  his  conduct  in  the  expedition 
of  1775. 

II.  What  are  the  real  facts  of  Enos's  conduct  in  the 
Canada  expedition? 

This  important  venture  for  the  possession  of  Canada  was 
planned  by  Washington,  the  preparations  made  with  as  much 
secrecy  and  despatch  as  possible,  and  placed  under  the 
command  of  Benedict  Arnold.  The  little  army  consisted  of 
1,080  men  in  two  battalions;  Arnold,  in  his  letter  of  October 
13,  says  950  men.  The  first  battalion  was  commanded  by 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Christopher  Greene;  the  second  by  Lieu 
tenant-Colonel  Roger  Enos.  The  command  was  again  sub 
divided  into  three  divisions,  of  which  the  third,  or  rear 
division,  was  placed  in  charge  of  Colonel  Enos,  and  num 
bered  350  men.  The  march  was  begun  September  11,  1775. 

************ 

The  vicissitudes  of  the  advance  party  up  to  October  24, 
were  not  unknown  to  Enos,  whom  Arnold  kept  advised  by 
letter  and  courier  until  Enos's  return.  Thus  Arnold  wrote 
him  from  the  Third  Carrying  Place,  October  15,  "The  three 
first  divisions  have  twenty-five  days'  provisions,  which  will 
carry  them  to  Chaudiere  Pond  and  back,  where  we  shall 
doubtless  have  intelligence,  and  shall  be  able  to  proceed  or 
return  as  shall  be  thought  best. ' '  Two  days  later,  October  17, 


GENERAL   ROGER   ENOS  349 

he  writes  in  a  different  strain  from  Dead  River:  "I  arrived 
here  last  night  late  and  find  Col.  Greene's  division  very  short 
of  provisions,  the  whole  having  only  four  barrels  of  flour  and 
ten  barrels  of  pork."  He  ordered  back  Major  Bigelow  with 
a  Lieutenant  and  thirty-one  men  out  of  each  company  to 
meet  Enos,  "and  bring  up  as  much  as  you  (Enos)  can  spare." 
Thus  Greene's  division  had  met  with  such  reverses  in  the 
loss  of  provisions  that  at  that  date,  October  16,  they  had  less 
than  800  Ibs.  of  flour  and  10  barrels  of  pork  to  sustain  a  body 
of  350  men  for  seventeen  days,  that  is  from  October  16  to 
November  4,  when  they  met  the  provisions  which  Arnold 
had  sent  back  from  the  settlements.  As  to  his  own  division, 
Arnold  wrote  Enos,  October  24,  that,  instead  of  twenty-five 
days'  provision  in  hand,  his  party  was  reduced  to  fifteen 
days'  provision,  when  four  days'  march  from  Chaudiere,  and 
that  a  council  of  war  had  decided  "to  send  back  all  sick 
and  feeble  with  3  days'  provision  .  .  .  and  that  on  re 
ceipt  of  this  you  should  proceed  with  as  many  of  the  best  men 
of  your  division  as  you  can  furnish  with  15  days'  provisions, 
and  the  remainder,  whether  sick  or  well,  should  be  immediately 
sent  back  to  the  Commissary."  To  Colonel  Farnsworth  he 
wrote  the  same  day,  "I  find  it  necessary  for  the  safety  of  the 
detachment  to  send  back  the  sick,  and  to  reduce  the  detach 
ment  so  as  to  have  fifteen  days'  provision  for  the  whole. 
Those  who  are  sent  back  you  will  supply  with  provisions 
and  send  back  to  Cambridge  as  soon  as  possible."  This 
letter  he  repeated  to  Colonel  Greene  the  same  day.  On  the 
27th  he  wrote  to  General  Washington  that  he  had  left  the 
principal  part  of  the  detachment  eight  leagues  below  the 
Great  Carrying  Place,  short  of  provisions  by  reason  of  the  loss 
of  many  bateaux  at  the  falls  and  rapid  waters;  that  he  had 
ordered  all  the  sick  and  feeble  to  return,  "and  wrote  Colonels 
Enos  and  Greene  to  bring  on  in  their  divisions  no  more  men 


350        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

than  they  could  furnish  with  15  days'  provisions,  and  send 
back  the  remainder  to  the  Commissary."  November  8  he 
repeats  this  order  in  his  letter  to  the  Commander  in  Chief: 
"I  had  ordered  Col.  Enos  to  send  back  the  sick  and  feeble, 
and  those  of  his  division  who  could  not  be  supplied  with 
fifteen  days'  provisions." 

Colonel  Enos,  under  date  of  November  9th,  wrote  Washing 
ton,  from  "Brunswick,  near  Kennebunk,"  thus: 

SIR,  I  am  on  my  return  from  Col  Arnold's  detachment. 
I  brought  up  the  rear  of  the  whole.  Captains  McCobb  's,  Wil 
liams '  and  Scott's  companies  were  assigned  to  my  division. 
We  proceeded  as  far  as  50  miles  up  the  Dead  River,  &  then 
were  obliged  to  return  for  want  of  provisions.  When  we 
arrived  at  the  Great  Carrying  place,  by  what  I  could  learn 
from  the  division  forward  that  provisions  were  like  to  be 
short,  I  wrote  to  Col  Arnold  &  desired  him  to  take  account 
of  the  provisions  forward.  He  wrote  me  that  there  were 
25  days'  provisions  for  all  the  divisions  ahead,  but  to  my 
surprise  before  we  got  over  the  Great  Carrying  place,  Major 
Bigelow  with  90  men  were  sent  back  from  Col°  Greene's 
division  to  mine  for  provisions.  I  let  them  have  all  I  could 
spare.  I  continued  my  march  with  all  expedition,  &  when 
about  50  miles  up  the  Dead  River  overtook  Col  Greene  with  his 
division,  entirely  out  of  provisions,  &  by  reason  of  men  being 
sent  back  with  orders  from  Col  Arnold  for  me  to  furnish  them 
with  provisions  to  carry  them  to  the  inhabitants  my  division 
was  reduced  to  4  days'  provisions.  Col  Arnold  was  gone 
ahead;  the  Chief  of  the  Officers  of  Col  Greene's  division  and 
mine  were  together  when  we  took  the  situation  of  our  division 
into  consideration,  and  upon  the  wrhole  it  was  thought  best 
for  my  whole  division  to  return  &  furnish  those  that  proceeded 
with  all  our  provisions  except  3  days  to  bring  us  back,  which 
I  did  without  loss  of  time.  A  more  particular  account  shall 


From  the  only  known  portrait,  in  possession  of  his  great- 
grandson,  Mr.  Franklin  Hatch,  Springfield,  III. 


GENERAL    ROGER    ENOS  351 

be  able  to  give  when  I  return  to  Cambridge.  Shall  lose  no 
time  if  able  to  ride.  I  have  for  many  days  been  unwell.  Ex 
pect  the  whole  of  my  division  at  this  place  to-morrow,  when 
shall  set  out  on  our  march  to  Cambridge. 

I  am  your  most  obedient  humble  servant 

ROGER  ENOS. 

From  the  various  journals  of  this  Expedition,  it  is  easy  to 
see  the  position  in  which  Colonel  Enos  was  placed,  and  which 
forced  him  to  the  course  he  pursued.  Of  the  1,080  men  who 
composed  the  army,  Enos  commanded,  in  his  division,  and 
according  to  Marshall,  only  one-third,  or  350  men.  Arnold 
reached  Canada  with  550  men.  Deducting  Enos's  350,  leaves 
nearly  200  unaccounted  for,  who  doubtless  returned  sick,  or 
fell  exhausted  and  expired  by  the  way.  Of  Enos's  350,  at 
least  150  were  simply  "attached"  to  his  division,  and  were 
not  a  part  of  his  proper  command.  Henry  speaks  without 
knowledge  when  he  says  that  "Enos  had  returned  with  500 
men  and  a  large  stock  of  provisions."  Such  an  estimate 
places  Arnold's  number  beyond  the  number  reported  by  the 
best  authorities.  Stone,  in  his  issue  of  Thayer's  "Journal," 
says: 

"In  the  then  crude  state  of  military  authority,  the  control 
held  by  officers  over  their  men  was  more  the  result  of  personal 
regard  than  of  deference  to  position.  Every  man  had  an 
opinion  and  was  free  to  express  it.  Among  a  portion  of 
Arnold's  troops  the  views  of  officers  and  men  coincided. 
Disaffection  had  extended  to  three  companies,  and  it  became 
advisable  to  hold  a  council  of  war  for  decisive  measures,  and 
this  took  place  October  25,  on  reaching  Dead  River."  Meigs 
says  in  his  journal  of  that  date  that  instead  of  there  then  be 
ing  fifteen  days'  rations  for  the  command,  "the  provisions 
were  so  reduced  that  the  men  were  on  the  allowance  cf  ^th 
pound  of  pork  and  fth  pound  of  flour  per  day  for  each." 


352        ARNOLD'S   EXPEDITION   TO    QUEBEC 

And  a  careful  examination  of  the  various  journals  will  show 
that  on  this  day  the  rations  of  the  entire  command,  including 
the  two  divisions  of  Greene  and  Enos,  did  not  exceed  four 
days'  supply.  On  this  meager  provision  the  men  were  to 
subsist  for  nine  days.  Thayer  records  that  during  the  last 
forty-eight  hours  of  those  nine  days,  and  just  before  the  com 
mand  met  Arnold's  provisions,  "they  were  without  the  least 
nourishment."  The  council  of  war  held  at  Dead  River  is 
recorded  by  three  journalists,  Meigs,  Senter  and  Thayer.  Of 
these  Thayer  alone  was  one  of  the  council  and  present  during 
its  session. 

Dr.  Senter  says :  ' '  Col  Arnold  had  left  previous  orders  for 
Greene  &  Enos'  divisions  to  come  to  an  adjustment  of  the 
provisions,  send  back  any  who  were  indisposed  either  in  body 
or  mind  and  pursue  him  with  the  rest. ' '  This  is  not  a  correct 
statement  and  does  not  agree  with  Arnold's  letters  which 
the  two  lieutenant-colonels  had  received.  At  the  council  of 
war  eleven  officers  were  present;  Colonel  Enos  presided. 
Greene,  Bigelow,  Topham,  Thayer,  Ward,  voted  to  proceed; 
Williams,  McCobb,  Scott,  Hide,  Peters  voted  against  proceed 
ing.  Colonel  Enos  cast  the  deciding  vote  in  favor  of  pro 
ceeding.  Senter,  who  was  then  a  young  man  of  twenty-two 
years,  says:  "Col  Enos,  though  he  voted  for  proceeding,  yet 
had  undoubtedly  pre-engaged  to  the  contrary,  as  every  action 
demonstrated."  Thayer,  a  man  of  thirty-eight  years,  who 
had  already  seen  much  severe  service  with  Enos  in  the 
French  war,  and  had  suffered  some  of  its  vicissitudes  at  the 
surrender  of  Fort  William  Henry,  who  was  second  to  no 
soldier  of  the  Revolution  as  to  his  gallantry  and  integrity,  and 
who  was  present  in  the  council  of  war,  says  just  the  reverse 
about  Enos.  On  the  24th  of  October,  when  Arnold  supposed 
the  two  divisions  to  be  well  supplied  with  fifteen  days'  rations 
from  Enos'  bountiful  store,  Thayer  says  of  Greene's  division: 


GENERAL   ROGER   ENOS  353 

"Had  intelligence  of  its  being  25  miles  to  the  Great  Carrying 
place,  where  the  Height  of  Land  is,  and  in  the  meantime 
destitute  of  provisions,  for  the  2  barrels  we  brought  gave  2 
pounds  each  man,  and  we  had  only  |  pint  left  to  deliver  out." 

"Oct.  25.  We  staid  for  Col°  Greene  to  consult  about  our 
situation  &  what  to  do  for  provisions.  We  sent  back  48  men 
&  1  subaltern  in  3  batteaux.  The  men  are  much  disheartened, 
and  eagerly  wish  to  return;  however,  I  am  certain  if  their 
bellies  were  full  they  would  be  willing  enough  to  proceed." 

The  Council  of  War  having  decided  to  go  forward,  he  says : 
"It  was  resolved  that  Col  Enos  should  not  return  back.  His 
party  who  were  6  in  number,  &  by  one  inferior  to  ours  ob 
served  with  regret  that  we  voted  to  proceed,  on  which  they 
held  a  council  of  war  amongst  themselves,  of  which  were 
the  Captains  McCobb,  WTilliams  &  Scott,  &  unanimously  de 
clared  that  they  would  return  &  not  rush  into  such  imminent 
danger.  .  .  .  Col  Enos  declared  to  us  that  he  was  willing 
to  go  &  take  his  boat,  in  which  there  was  some  provision,  and 
share  the  same  fate  with  us,  but  was  obliged  to  tarry  through 
the  means  of  his  effeminate  officers  who  rather  pass  their  time 
in  tippling  than  turn  it  to  the  profit  &  advantage  of  their 
country  who  stands  in  need  of  their  assistance.  Cap*  Wil 
liams  stept  towards  me  &  wished  me  success,  but  told  me  he 
never  expected  to  see  me  or  any  of  us  (again),  he  was  so  con 
scious  of  the  imminent  danger  we  were  to  go  through.  In  the 
meantime  Col°  Enos  advanced  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  wish 
ing  me  &  mine  success,  &  took  as  he  then  supposed  &  absolutely 
thought,  his  last  farewell  of  me,  demonstrating  to  me  that  it 
was  with  the  utmost  reluctance  he  remained  behind,  though 
being  certain  he  would  never  survive  the  attempt." 

And  so  they  parted.  Greene  had  near  400  men  with 
three  days'  provisions  to  traverse  75  miles  through  a  route 
that  occupied  nearly  the  whole  of  the  nine  days  before  ;t 


354        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

supply  of  food  could  be  had.  On  the  28th  Thayer  says: 
"We  divided  our  flour  equally  in  10  companies,  the  quantity 
amounting  to  seven  Pints  each  man  for  7  Days."  Enos  had 
350  men  and  three  days'  provisions  to  travel  100  miles  to  the 
first  settlement.  This  distance  had  already  occupied  the 
detachment  twenty-two  days,  from  October  2  to  October  24, 
to  pass  over.  As  Thayer  says:  "Oct.  2.  ...  at  the  last 
inhabitants  now,  &  meet  no  other  until  we  come  to  Canada." 
Enos's  command  was  fifteen  days  in  reaching  Brunswick. 

To  recapitulate:  Arnold  started  on  his  march  September 
11  with  1,080  men  and  forty-five  days'  provision,  his  detach 
ment  reaching  the  French  settlements  November  4.  Within 
thirty  days,  October  14,  the  first  division  was  reduced  to 
twenty-five  days'  supplies.  Two  days  later,  October  17,  the 
second,  or  Greene's  division,  was  reduced  to  four  barrels 
flour  and  ten  barrels  pork  for  350  men  for  seventeen  days' 
march.  Ten  days  later,  October  24,  Greene's  division  having 
received  through  Major  Bigelow  all  that  Enos  could  supply, 
on  the  18th  had  only  half  a  pint  of  flour  left  to  deliver  out 
to  each  man ;  and  Arnold 's  first  division  was  on  the  allowance 
of  three-quarters  of  a  pound  of  flour  and  three-quarters  of  a 
pound  of  pork  per  day,  for  each  man.  Greene  and  Enos 
met  on  the  25th.  Enos  divided  his  rations  with  Greene. 
They  parted,  October  26,  each  with  three  days'  supply.  Nine 
days  later,  November  3,  Arnold's  party  were  eating  dog- 
meat,  moccasin  soup,  broiled  hide,  etc.;  Greene's  party  had 
been  forty-eight  hours  without  the  least  food,  and  Enos's 
men,  on  the  return  march,  were  saved  from  similar  suffering 
by  having  killed  a  large  moose.  Enos's  position,  October 
25,  was  certainly  one  of  extreme  difficulty.  He  could  take  no 
action  that  would  not  be,  in  part,  a  disobedience  of  Arnold's 
orders.  He  pursued  what  seemed  to  him  the  best  course 
when  he  voted  to  proceed.  His  officers  took  what  really 


GENERAL   ROGER   ENOS  355 

proved  to  be  the  best  course  when  they  refused  to  proceed. 
Arnold's  orders  were  imperative:  "Provide  Greene's  division 
with  supplies,  forward  all  of  the  best  men  of  his  own  party 
that  he  could  furnish  with  15  days'  rations,  &  send  back  the 
rest,  sick  or  well,  immediately."  There  was  no  discretionary 
power  left  to  Enos.  On  the  18th  he  supplied  Greene's  party 
with  all  he  could  spare.  On  the  25th,  when  Arnold's  orders 
of  the  24th  reached  him,  he  divided  his  provisions  with 
Greene,  giving  him  two  barrels  of  flour  and  two  barrels  of 
pork.  On  the  26th  he  began  his  return  march  with  300 
men  and  three  days'  provision.  Here  was  Enos's  dilemma 
(he  had  900  rations) :  (1)  To  forward  such  of  his  best  men 
as  he  could  furnish  with  fifteen  days'  rations  would  have 
added  thirty  men  to  the  advance  march,  and  have  left  270 
men  to  tread  the  way  back,  one  hundred  miles,  utterly 
destitute  of  food.  Such  a  disobedience  of  orders  could  not 
be  considered  for  a  moment.  (2)  To  proceed  with  his  300 
men  and  three  days'  rations  would  have  imperilled  the  whole 
detachment,  and  probably,  as  General  Sullivan  says,  have 
caused  them  to  perish  with  hunger.  This  would  have  been 
equally  a  disobedience  of  orders. 

To  return  home  with  all  whom  he  could  not  furnish  with 
fifteen  days'  provisions  was  also  a  disobedience  of  orders,  as 
it  took  away  from  Arnold  this  entire  division,  forwarding 
none  to  the  assistance  of  his  commanding  officer.  Each  of 
these  lines  of  action,  he  could  easily  see,  terminated  in  court- 
martial.  Without  doubt  the  course  Enos  did  take  saved 
the  lives  of  his  own  division,  if  not  of  the  others;  preserved 
the  morale  of  his  troops,  and  was  declared  by  the  court- 
martial  as  necessary  and  wise. 

Of  course  Enos's  return  was  a  surprise  to  "Washington, 
who  was  entirely  in  ignorance  of  the  cause.  He  placed  him 
immediately  under  arrest,  not  because  his  time  of  service  was 


356        ARNOLD'S   EXPEDITION    TO    QUEBEC 

nearly  expired,  for  it  had  only  just  begun;  and  ordered  a 
court  of  inquiry  to  be  held  November  29,  1775.  This  court 
was  composed  of  Major-General  Charles  Lee,  President; 
Brigadier-Generals  Greene  and  Heath;  Colonels  (afterwards 
Generals)  John  Stark  and  John  Nixon,  and  Majors  Durkee 
and  Sherburne.  Their  examination  of  the  charges  resulted 
in  the  expressed  "opinion,  that  Col.  Enos's  misconduct,  if 
he  has  been  guilty  of  misconduct,  is  not  of  so  heinous  a  nature 
as  was  at  first  supposed ;  but  it  is  necessary  for  the  satisfaction 
of  the  world,  and  for  his  own  honour,  that  a  court-martial 
should  be  immediately  held  for  his  trial." 

The  court-martial  was  held  December  1,  1775.  President 
Brigadier-General  John  Sullivan  and  twelve  field  officers. 
' '  The  court  being  duly  sworn, ' '  proceeded  to  try  Colonel  Enos 
for  "leaving  the  detachment  under  Colonel  Arnold,  and  re 
turning  home  without  permission  from  his  commanding 
officer. ' '  To  this  Enos  replied  that  it  was  true  he  did  return 
without  permission  from  his  commanding  officer,  "but  the 
circumstances  of  the  case  were  such  as  obliged  him  so  to  do." 
The  witnesses  for  the  defense  were  the  officers  of  Enos's 
division,  Captains  Williams,  McCobb  and  Scott,  and  Lieuten 
ants  Hide  and  Buckmaster.  These  entirely  concurred  in 
their  testimony,  that  to  go  forward  with  only  three  days' 
supply  of  food  was  impossible;  that  Colonel  Enos  was  for 
going  forward  without  his  division,  but  that  his  presence  was 
absolutely  so  necessary  to  secure  the  harmony  and  safe  retreat 
of  the  men  that  they  had  each  protested  against  his  leaving 
them.  The  full  testimony  of  these  witnesses  can  be  found 
in  Force's  "Archives,"  Vol.  III.,  p.  1709,  and  Munsell's 
edition  of  Henry's  "Journal,"  p.  52,  where  the  result  of  the 
trial  is  recorded  as  follows : 

"The  Court  being  cleared,  after  mature  consideration, 
are  unanimously  of  opinion  that  Colonel  Enos  was  under  a 


GENERAL   ROGER   ENOS  357 

necessity  of  returning  with  the  division  under  his  command, 
and  therefore  acquit  him  with  honour. 

''John  Sullivan,  President.  A  true  copy  of  the  proceed 
ings:  Attest.  W.  Tudor,  Judge  Advocate." 

The  subsequent  testimony  of  General  Sullivan  is  most 
explicit  in  confirmation  of  this  decision,  and  entirely  disarms 
of  its  force  Munsell's  intimation  that  the  witnesses  in  the 
trial  perjured  themselves  in  Enos's  defense. 

NEW-YORK,  April  28,  1776. 

I  hereby  certify  that  I  was  President  of  a  Court-Martial, 
in  Cambridge,  when  Colonel  Enos  was  tried  for  leaving 
Colonel  Arnold,  with  the  rear  division  of  the  detachment  un 
der  his  command,  bound  for  Quebeck;  and,  upon  the  trial,  it 
clearly  appeared  to  me,  as  well  as  to  all  the  other  members 
of  the  Court,  that  Colonel  Enos  was  perfectly  justifiable  in 
returning  with  the  division,  being  clearly  proved,  by  the 
testimony  of  witnesses  of  undoubted  veracity,  (some  of  whom 
I  have  been  personally  acquainted  with  for  a  number  of 
years,  and  know  them  to  be  persons  of  truth,)  that  so  much 
provision  had  been  sent  forward,  to  support  the  other 
divisions,  as  left  them  so  small  a  quantity  that  their  men  were 
almost  famished  with  hunger  on  their  return ;  and  some  would 
undoubtedly  have  starved,  had  they  not,  by  accident,  come 
across  and  killed  a  large  moose.  Upon  their  evidence,  there 
remained  no  doubt  in  the  mind  of  myself,  or  any  of  the  mem 
bers,  that  the  return  of  the  division  was  prudent  and  reason 
able;  being  well  convinced  that  they  had  not  provision  suffi 
cient  to  carry  them  half  way  to  Quebeck,  and  that  their  going 
forward  would  only  have  deprived  the  other  division  of  a  part 
of  theirs,  which,  as  the  event  has  since  shown,  was  not  enough 
to  keep  them  all  from  perishing;  we  therefore  unanimously 
acquitted  Colonel  Enos  with  honour. 


358        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION   TO    QUEBEC 

I  further  certify,  that  by  a  strict  inquiry  into  the  matter 
since,  from  persons  who  were  in  the  divisions  that  went  for 
ward,  I  am  convinced  that  had  Colonel  Enos,  with  his 
division,  proceeded,  it  would  have  been  a  means  of  causing 
the  whole  detachment  to  have  perished  in  the  woods,  for  want 
of  sustenance. 

I  further  add,  that  I  have  been  well  informed,  by  persons 
acquainted  with  Colonel  Enos,  that  he  has  ever  conducted  as 
a  good  and  faithful  officer. 

JOHN  SULLIVAN. 

The  estimation  in  which  Enos  was  held  by  the  officers 
of  the  army,  and  the  light  in  which  his  course  in  the  present 
instance  was  held  is  seen  in  this  additional  testimony. 


TO  THE  IMPARTIAL  PUBLICK. 

The  case  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  Enos  having  engaged  the 
attention  of  many  officers  of  the  Army,  as  well  as  others,  and 
as  we  are  informed  he  is  much  censured  by  many  persons, 
for,  returning  back  from  the  expedition  to  Canada,  under  the 
command  of  Colonel  Arnold,  by  which  Colonel  Enos's  charac 
ter  greatly  suffers,  we  think  it  our  duty  to  certify,  that  some 
of  us,  from  our  own  personal  knowledge  of  the  military 
abilities  of  Colonel  Enos,  and  others  of  us  from  information, 
are  fully  convinced  that  he  is  a  gentleman  fully  acquainted 
with  his  duty  as  an  officer,  a  man  of  fortitude  and  prudence, 
and,  in  our  opinion,  well  calculated  to  sustain,  with  honour, 
any  military  character ;  and,  from  the  fullest  inquiry,  we  are 
satisfied  that  (whatsoever  different  representations  may  be 
made)  in  returning  to  camp,  with  the  division  under  his  com 
mand,  he  is  justifiable,  and  conducted  as  an  understanding, 
prudent,  faithful  officer,  and  deserves  applause  rather  than 


GENERAL   ROGER   ENOS  359 

censure ;  and  we  can  safely  recommend  him  as  a  person  worthy 
to  be  employed  in  any  military  department. 

WILLIAM  HEATH,  Brigadier-General. 

JAMES  REED,  Colonel. 

J.  BREWER,  Colonel. 

SAMUEL  H.  PARSONS,  Colonel. 

JOSEPH  REED,  Colonel. 

JONATHAN  NIXON,  Colonel. 

CHARLES  WEBB,  Colonel. 

DANIEL  HITCHCOCK,  Colonel. 

JOHN  STARK,  Colonel. 

LEVI  WELLS,  Major. 

SAMUEL  WYLLYS,  Colonel. 

WILLIAM  SHEPARD.,  Lieutenant-Colonel. 

ISSAC  SHERMAN,  Major. 

ANDREW  COLBURN,  Major. 

JOEL  CLARK,  Lieutenant-Colonel. 

EBENEZER  SPROUT,  Major. 

EBENEZER  CLAP,  Lieutenant-Colonel. 

SAMUEL  PRENTICE,  Major. 

CALVIN  SMITH,  Major. 

JOSIAH  HAYDEN,  Major. 

JOHN  BAILY,  Colonel. 

JOHN  TYLER,  Lieutenant-Colonel. 

THOMAS  NIXON,  Lieutenant-Colonel. 

LOAMMI  BALDWIN,  Colonel. 

JAMES  WESSON,  Lieutenant-Colonel. 

Now,  supposing  Enos  to  have  been  guilty  of  either  "deser 
tion"  or  "cowardice,"  in  his  return  from  the  expedition, 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  phases  of  the  case  is  the  silence 
of  both  Washington  and  Arnold  about  his  conduct.  Neither 
of  these  ever  applied  such  terms  to  his  action.  The  strongest 


360        ARNOLD'S   EXPEDITION   TO    QUEBEC 

language  that  "Washington  used  in  referring  to  him  was  in 
his  letter  to  Congress,  November  19,  in  which  he  says,  "not 
withstanding  the  great  defection,  I  do  not  despair  of  Col. 
Arnold's  success."  To  Arnold  he  wrote  December.  5;  "You 
could  not  be  more  surprised  than  I  was  at  Enos'  return,  with 
the  division  under  his  command.  I  immediately  put  him  under 
arrest,  etc.,  etc.  He  is  acquitted  on  the  score  of  provisions. '' 

Arnold,  with  his  hot  blood  and  impetuosity,  so  far  from 
"depicting  the  cowardice  and  shame  of  Enos,"  simply  says, 
in  his  letter  to  Washington,  November  8,  "all  are  happily 
arrived,  except  .  .  .  Colonel  Enos's  division,  who  I  am 
surprised  to  hear  are  all  gone  back."  To  General  Mont 
gomery  he  writes  the  same  day:  "The  other  part  with  Col° 
Enos  returned  from  Dead  River  contrary  to  my  expectation, 
he  having  orders  to  send  back  only  the  sick  and  those  who 
could  not  be  furnished  with  provisions."  Again  to  General 
Schuyler  he  wrote,  November,  7,  "near  one-third  of  the  detach 
ment  returned  from  the  Dead  River  short  of  provisions." 
Again,  describing  his  difficulties  in  reaching  Canada,  he  writes, 
"short  of  provisions,  part  of  the  detachment  disheartened 
and  gone  ~back,  famine  staring  us  in  the  face."  Beyond  this 
not  one  word  is  found  in  all  the  writings  of  either  Washington 
or  Arnold  that  casts  the  least  reflection  on  Colonel  Enos,  or 
on  the  opinion  of  the  court-martial.  There  can  be  but  little 
doubt  that  had  Arnold  known  one-half  the  difficulties  that 
awaited  him  he  would  never  have  undertaken  the  expedition 
furnished  as  he  was.  He  wrote  Washington,  October  27:  "I 
have  been  much  deceived  in  every  account  of  our  route,  which 
is  much  longer,  and  has  been  attended  with  a  thousand  diffi 
culties  I  never  apprehended. ' '  He  was  evidently  surprised  at 
the  almost  insurmountable  hindrances  he  met  with;  owing 
to  which  he  fully  expected  that  a  part  at  least  of  his  detach 
ment  would  be  obliged  to  return,  for  want  of  provisions. 


GENERAL   ROGER   ENOS  361 

Hence  his  orders  of  the  24th  to  Enos,  Greene  and  Farnsworth. 
But  knowing  nothing  of  the  destitution  in  Greene 's  and  Enos 's 
command  on  that  date,  he  naturally  expressed  surprise  that 
Enos's  command  "are  all  gone  back."  From  the  marked  ab 
sence  of  all  complaint  or  censure,  especially  after  he  had  be 
come  acquainted  with  the  reasons  for  the  return  of  so  many, 
the  conclusion  is  inevitable  that  he  recognized  the  necessity  for. 
Enos's  course,  and  accepted  the  opinion  of  the  court-martial 
as  final. 

It  was  so  accepted  also  by  the  early  historians  of  the 
Revolutionary  war.  President  William  Allen,  whose  "Ac 
count  of  the  Expedition  of  Arnold ' '  is  published  in  the  Maine 
Historical  Society  Collections,  Vol.  I.,  prepared  his  paper 
during  the  life  of  and  in  correspondence  with  General  Dear 
born,  one  of  the  captains  immediately  under  Arnold.  He 
fully  accepts  the  finding  of  the  court  as  a  justification  of  Enos. 
So  does  Marshall  in  his  "Life  of  Washington,"  in  both  the 
first  and  last  editions.  Also  Colonel  H.  B.  Carrington, 
U.S.A.,  in  his  "Battles  of  the  Revolution";  Drake  in  his 
' '  Biographical  Dictionary, ' '  and  many  other,  impartial  writers. 
The  venerable  Governor  Hiland  Hall,  one  of  the  historians  of 
Vermont,  writes  me,  September,  1879 :  "  I  have  always  believed 
that  Enos's  return  from  Arnold's  expedition  against  Quebec 
was  fully  justified  by  the  circumstances  in  which  he  was 
placed,  and  that  the  verdict  of  the  court-martial  of  distin 
guished  officers  which  investigated  his  conduct  at  the  time, 
and  which  unanimously  acquitted  him  'with  honour,'  ought 
to  be  received  by  posterity  as  his  complete  and  perfect  vindica 
tion.  Recent  examination  of  original  authorities  has  served  to 
confirm  my  previous  opinion  and  to  make  it  very  clear  to  me 
that  the  censures  of  modern  writers  must  have  been  made 
without  sufficient  and  proper  consideration,  and  that  they 
are  entirely  unjustifiable. ' ' 
32 


362        ARNOLD'S    EXPEDITION   TO    QUEBEC 

The  letters  of  Arnold  quoted  in  this  paper,  with  the  action 
of  the  court-martial  and  the  testimony  of  the  Continental 
officers,  are  all  preserved  in  the  State  Department  at  Wash 
ington,  and  are  published  in  Force's  "Archives"  and  the 
Maine  Historical  Society  Collections.  They  show  most  con 
clusively  that  the  entire  charge  against  Enos  was  fully  adjudi 
cated  at  the  time— adjudicated  by  his  peers;  by  a  court  of 
inquiry  of  seven  officers  of  high  rank;  a  court-martial  of 
fourteen  officers  of  the  Continental  line,  among  them  some  of 
the  ablest  and  brightest  military  men  of  the  Revolution; 
with  all  the  evidence  before  them;  Enos's  own  acknowledg 
ment  of  his  return  and  his  reasons  therefor;  the  evidence  of 
five  officers  of  his  command  testifying  on  oath,  not  themselves 
on  trial  or  to  be  affected  by  the  issue  of  the  trial;  officers 
known  personally  to  members  of  the  court,  and  whose  veracity 
is  vouched  for.  by  the  president  of  the  court,  and,  therefore, 
cannot  be  impeached  simply  to  make  up  a  case  against  Enos. 
The  decision  of  the  court-martial,  Washington,  who  had  the 
power  to  reject,  approved  in  general  orders,  intensifying  the 
language  of  the  decision  thus :  ' '  The  court,  after  mature  con 
sideration  of  the  evidence,  are  unanimously  of  the  opinion  that 
the  prisoner  was,  by  absolute  necessity,  obliged  to  return 
with  his  division,"  etc.,  etc.  The  President  of  the  Court,  and 
twenty-five  officers  of  the  army,  including  three  of  the  Court 
of  Inquiry,  and  Colonel  Joseph  Reed,  the  Adjutant-General 
of  the  Army,  on  the  staff  of  the  Commander-in-Chief,  after 
subsequent  and  careful  inquiry  of  those  who  went  forward 
with  Greene  to  join  Arnold,  in  the  most  positive  language 
reconfirmed  the  action  of  the  court.  Compare  those  eminent 
men,  sitting  in  court-matial,  "the  court  being  duly  sworn," 
and  the  five  witnesses  testifying  on  oath  and  the  honorable 
acquittal  on  oath,  with  the  modern  historian  sitting  in  his 
study,  one  hundred  years  after  the  events  of  which  he 


GENERAL   EOGER   ENOS  363 

writes,  repeating  old  calumnies  from  second-hand  authorities, 
charging  "desertion"  and  "cowardice,"  where  he  cannot 
prove  either,  and  say  if  this  last  be  history?  Hon.  Isaac  N. 
Arnold,  shortly  after  publishing  his  life  of  Benedict  Arnold, 
addressed  to  me  this  letter:  ".  .  .  I  have  not  yet  found 
time  to  give  the  case  of  Col.  Enos  an  exhaustive  investigation, 
but  in  my  late  readings  and  reflections  I  have  not  forgotten 
your  suggestions,  and  I  am  inclined  to  think  my  language  in 
regard  to  him  in  my  'Life  of  Arnold'  needs  some  modification. 
I  do  not  think  Col.  Enos  meant  to  'desert'  the  Canada  Expedi 
tion  in  the  odious  sense  of  that  term.  I  know  of  no  evidence 
that  he  acted  from  'cowardice,'  and  do  not  think  he  could  be 
just  called  'a  craven.'  I  shall  in  my  next  edition,  p.  60,  say 
'the  return  of  Enos,'  instead  of  'the  desertion  of  Enos.'  It 
was  probably  an  error  of  judgment;  an  error  which  a  man 
like  Morgan  would  not  have  committed,  but  which  a  very 
prudent,  cautious  man  might  make  without  any  but  good 
motives. ' ' 

Against  such  an  estimate  of  Enos's  conduct  there  is  no 
need  to  protest,  since  it  accepts  the  judgment  of  the  court- 
martial  as  final,  and  casting  no  reflections  on  either  the  honor 
or  courage  of  Enos.  The  purpose  of  this  paper  is  simply  to 
show  the  reading  public  that  Enos  was  neither  a  "deserter" 
nor  a  "coward,"  and  to  enable  future  writers  to  accord  to 
him  simple  justice,  no  more. 


APPENDIX  E 


HEEE  are  some  others  whom  Mr.  Cod- 
man  has  not  mentioned,  and  whose 
names  should  be  recorded  in  order  to 
make  the  list  as  nearly  complete  as 
possible.  I  give  them  below: 

Ammi  Andrews,  Second  Lieutenant  First  New  Hampshire, 
is  supposed  to  have  died  in  prison  at  Quebec. 

Samuel  Brown,  First  Lieutenant  of  Thomas'  Massa 
chusetts  regiment,  was  also  a  prisoner. 

Brewer,  Lieutenant. ,  of  Virginia. 

John  Compston  or  Cumpston,  of  Massachusetts,  was  a 
volunteer,  and  a  prisoner.  He  was  afterwards  Captain-Lieu 
tenant  of  the  3d  Continental  Artillery. 

Matthew  Irvine,  of  Pennsylvania,  Surgeon's  Mate  of 
Thompson's  Rifles.  He  appears  as  an  ensign  in  Morgan's 
company.  He  was  afterwards  surgeon  of  Lee's  Dragoons. 

Edward  Slocum,  Lieutenant  (probably  of  Ward's  com 
pany),  afterwards  captain  1st  Rhode  Island. 

Abijah  Savage,  Lieutenant  Second  Connecticut,  was  a 
prisoner. 

James  Webb,  Lieutenant Rhode  Island,  afterwards 

Captain  in  Sherburne's  regiment. 

Of  Captains  Scott  and  Williams,  I,  like  Mr.  Codman,  can 
find  no  trace,  nor  of  Quartermaster  Hide,  or  Hyde,  save  that 

he  was  of  Massachusetts. 

EDITOR. 

364 


NOTE. 

The  grave  where  were  buried  Captains  Cheeseman  and 
Macpherson,  the  unnamed  sergeant  and  the  ten  "enlisted 
men,"  was  unmarked  for  a  hundred  and  twenty  years.  In 
1895  the  two  young  daughters  of  Mr.  G.  M.  Fairchild,  Jr., 
an  American  living  at  Cap  Rouge,  near  Quebec,  raised  by 
dollar  subscriptions  among  their  young  friends  in  the  United 
States,  a  sum  sufficient  to  erect  the  tablet  shown  in  the  illus 
tration  opposite  page  — . 

But  for  the  remonstrances  of  Patrick  Lewis,  a  British 
veteran,  the  bones  of  the  thirteen  patriots,  unearthed  during 
some  repairs  to  the  building  (formerly  used  as  a  military 
prison)  would  have  been  scattered.  At  his  instance  they  were 
preserved,  and  with  the  assistance  of  Mr.  J.  M.  Le  Moine, 
formerly  Secretary  of  the  Quebec  Literary  and  Historical 
Society,  re-interred  under  the  corner  of  the  building. 


365 


INDEX 


Abenaki  Indians,  127. 

Adams,  Samuel,  8. 

Ainslie,  Lieutenant  Thomas,  313,  328. 

Allen,  Colonel  Ethan,  10,  17-20. 

Allen,  Captain  (Conn.),  133. 

Amnesty  Proclamation,  314. 

Anderson,  Captain  James,  242. 

Antill,  Edward,  204,  238,  263,  337. 

Arnold,  Benedict,  1,  5  ;  chosen  to  com 
mand  expedition,  12  ;  early  life,  13- 
19 ;  marches  to  Cambridge,  17  ;  Col 
onel's  commission,  17 ;  his  part  in 
capture  of  Ticonderoga,  18 ;  resigns 
from  Massachusetts  service,  20  ;  for 
wards  Canadian  information  to  Con 
gress,  20 ;  three  routes  open,  21 ;  plan 
of  campaign,  22-28;  preparations 
for  departure,  28,  29  ;  personnel  of 
expedition,  30-35 ;  departure  from 
Cambridge,  35 ;  embarks  at  New- 
buryport,  40,  41 ;  journey  to  Fort 
Western,  39-43 ;  Berry  and  Getchell 
report  to,  46;  finds  bateaux  defect 
ive,  48,  52;  reaches  Twelve  Mile 
carry  57 ;  camps  on  Dead  River,  64  ; 
letters  to  Washington,  65 ;  letters  to 
Enos,  68,  87  ;  suffers  by  flood,  75-77  ; 
council  of  war,  79  ;  his  absence  from 
Ledge  Falls  council,  86 ;  letter  to 
Greene,  88 ;  letter  to  officers,  96,  116 ; 
his  descent  of  Chaudifire,  112-115 ; 
speech  to  the  Abenaki,  127 ;  letter 
from  Montgomery,  153 ;  at  Point 
Levi,  137  ;  review  of  cause,  143-147  ; 
crosses  St.  Lawrence,  149-151 ;  letters 
to  Montgomery,  153  et  seq. ;  summons 
CramahS,  157 ;  grievance  of  rifle 
men,  168 ;  withdraws  to  Pointe  aux 


Trembles,  173  ;  characterization,  181 ; 
Montgomery  joins  him,  186 ;  dissen 
sion  among  officers,  206 ;  plan  of 
assault,  218;  wounded,  229;  defeat  of 
his  troops,  250,  251 ;  their  losses,  258, 
259 ;  in  hospital,  262  ;  gives  command 
to  Campbell,  263 ;  troops  refuse,  264  ; 
institutes  blockade,  265  ;  reinforce 
ments,  266,  296,  297;  orders  from 
Washington,  267 ;  commissioned 
Brigadier-General,  289;  letter  to 
Hancock,  290 ;  letter  to  Washington, 
294 ;  Wooster  takes  command,  300 ; 
retires  to  Montreal,  301 ;  abandons 
Montreal,  313  ;  his  journal,  321. 

Arnold,  Captain  Benedict,  13. 

Arnold,  Governor  Benedict,  13. 

Arnold,  Hannah,  15. 

Arnold,  Hannah  (II.),  16. 

"  Arnold's  Cove,"  60. 

"  Arnold's  Hospital,"  63. 

"Arnold's  River,"  81,  102. 

Aston,  Sergeant  Joseph,  279. 

Bailly,  Cure,  299. 

Bancroft,  George,  324. 

Barlow,  S.  L.  M.,  322. 

Barnsfare,  Captain,  237,  239,  240. 

Beaujeu,  Captain  de,  299. 

Bedel,  Colonel  Timothy,  134,  269. 

Berian,  Michael,  191. 

Berry,  Denis,  46,  63. 

Berthelot,  Amable,  329. 

Bigelow,  Major  Timothy,  32,  48, 72,  78, 

173,  226,  230,  234,  246,  332. 
Bishop,  Reuben,  46,  58. 
Blair,  John,  318. 
Bond,  Colonel,  304. 


367 


368 


INDEX 


Bouchette,  175. 

Bowman,  Judge,  44. 

Boyd,  Sergeant,  64,  280,  335. 

Bridge,  Squire,  44. 

Brown,  Captain  Jacob,  221,  224,  225, 

235, 256. 
Brown,  Major  John,  134,  143,  221,  222, 

290,  291,  292,  293,  337. 
Bruen   (Bruin),  Lieutenant  Peter  B., 

234,  317. 

Buck  master,  Lieutenant,  88. 
Burdeen,  125,  126. 
Burgoyne,  General,  310,  313. 
Burr,  Aaron,  35,  76,  111,  183,  184,  185, 

199,  204,  238,  239,  293. 
Bushnell,  C.  J.,  324. 

Cairns,  Ensign,  245. 

Caldwell,  Major  Henry,  139,  152,  166, 

245,  274,  288,  328,  338. 
Campbell,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Donald, 

239,  263,  338. 
Cambridge,  3,  17,  30,  89. 
Canada,  3,  5,  6,  7,  9,  10,  18,  21,  22,  36, 

313. 

Canadian  Archives,  4,  258. 
Carleton,  Sir  Guy,  10,  11,  22,  27,  46,  67, 

135,  158,  165,  175,  176,  193,  195,  214, 

223,  227,  248,  252,  259,  260,  261,  262, 

269,  272,  273,  276,  300,  311,  318,  338. 
Carrington,  General  H.  B.,  254. 
Carroll,  Charles,  302. 
Carroll,  Bishop  John,  302. 
Cavanaugh,  Private,  273. 
Chabot,  Captain,  237. 
Chalmers,  George,  329. 
Chambly,  11,  131,  134, 191. 
Chaudiere  River,  2,  22,  26,  46,  113-117, 

131. 

Chase,  Samuel,  302. 
Chatham,  Lord,  son  of,  38,  143. 
Cheeseman,  Captain  Jacob,  238,  239, 

252,  261. 

Church,  Lieutenant,  47,  58,  64,  77,  275. 
Clarkson,  Captain  James,  40. 


Cleek,  Lieutenant,  234. 

Clinton,  Sir  Henry,  338. 

Coffin,  John,  240. 

Colburn,  Captain  Oliver,  32,  48. 

Colburn,  Major  Reuben,  44. 

Congdon,  Charles,  326. 

Congdon,  H.  M.,  326. 

Congress,  Continental,  8,  9,  10,  12,  18, 

261,  290,  296. 
Congress,  Provincial,  7. 
Conners,  Private,  273. 
Cooper,  Lieutenant,  243. 
Couillard,  Sieur,  299. 
Cramahg,  Lieutenant  Governor,  67, 135, 

156,  157. 

Crouch,  James,  336. 
Cullum,  General,  254. 
Cushing,  Colonel,  42. 

Dalton,  Tristram,  36. 

Dambourges,  Ensign,  245. 

Davis,  W.  J.,  324. 

Dearborn,  Captain  Henry,  32,  44,  45, 

71,  88,  100,  101,  103,  125,  192,  206, 

226,  246-250,  316,  333. 
D'Eres,  C.  D.  R.,  327. 
De  Montmollin,  Rev.  Mr.,  260. 
Desmarais,  238,  239. 
Devine,  212. 

Dixon,  Sergeant,  171,  172. 
Douglas,  Captain,  309. 
Dubois,  Major,  299. 
Duggan,  Captain  J.,  182,  191,  192. 
Pumas,  Captain  Alexandre,  242. 
Dupre,  167,  215. 

Easton,  19,  134,  143,  176,  221,  290,  291. 

Edwards,  321. 

Emerson,  41. 

Eneas,  66-68,  127. 

Enos,  32,  34,  48,  58,  68,  72,  79,  83,  84, 

87-91,  94-95,  333,  334  and  Appendix 

D. 

Escape,  attempts,  278-284,  286-288. 
Farnsworth,  35,  145. 


INDEX 


369 


Febiger,  C.  C.,  4. 

Febiger,  C.,  35,  156,  332. 

Fitch,  94. 

Force's  Archives,  4. 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  301,  302. 

Fraser,  A.,  248. 

Fraser.  J.  M.,  328. 

Fraser,  M.,  227. 

Fraser,  S.,  308. 

Gardiner,  44. 

Garver,  318. 

Gaspe,  261. 

Gaubert,  260. 

General  Hospital,  169, 198,  206,  222,  230, 

262,  295. 
Getchell,  46,  63. 
Gibson,  282,  318,  335. 
Goodrich,  32,  46,  48,  100,  101,  103,  104, 

182,  206,  226. 
Goodwin,  44. 
Graham,  304. 
Greene,  C.,  32,  46,  51,  57,  73,  78,  83,  84, 

88,  98,  105-109,  226,  241,  310,  317,  331, 

332. 

Greene,  E.  A.,  4. 
Gregory,  66,  117. 
Grier,  45. 
Grier,  Mrs.,  45,  99,  337. 

Haldirnand  Papers,  4. 

Hall,  67,  284,  300. 

Hamilton,  167,  248. 

Hancock,  290. 

Handchett,  32,  48,  79,  80,  88,  92,  96, 

140,  187-190,  197,  206,  226,  288,  336. 
Harris,  336. 
Harrison,  325. 
Hart,  125,  139. 
Harvard,  4,  328. 
Haskell,  323. 
Hazen,  300. 
Hendricks,  30,  47,  60,  81,  98,  99,  117, 

168,  226,  243,  245,  277,  326. 


Henry,  J.  J.,  64,  99,  118,  120,  131,  171, 

258,  319,  322,  335. 
Henry,  P.,  8. 

Heth,  232,  243,  246,  317,  325. 
Higgins,  26. 
Hubbard,  32,  48,  197,  206,  226,  244,  253, 

274. 

Humphrey,  335. 

Humphries,  76,  243. 

"  Hunter,"  139,  141,  151,  181,  308. 

Hutchins,  125,  182,  247-8. 

Hyde,  85,  90. 

limes,  111,  139. 
Irvine,  317. 

Jacataqua,  45,  121,  185. 
Jacquith,  67,  107. 
Johnson,  143. 
Jones,  296. 
Journals,  2,  3,  321-330. 

Kennebec,  2,  24,  25. 
King,  13. 
Knapp,  322. 
Knowles,  224,  256. 

Laforce,  287. 

Lafrainboise,  299. 

Lamb,  134,  186,  197,  199,  221,  226,  229, 

243,  244,  253,  317,  337. 
Lawes,  248,  250,  256,  316. 
Layard,  245. 
Ledge  Falls,  76,  78,  82. 
Lee,  305. 
Lemoine,  329. 
Lenaudiere,  175,  261. 
Lindsay,  309. 
Livingston,  133. 
Livingston,  Jas.,  8,  134,  221,  224,  235, 

256,  264,  337. 
Livingston,  Janet,  187. 
Livingston,  R.  R.,  187,  201. 
"  Lizard,"  139,  141,  151,  181,  308. 
Lockwood,  287,  288. 


370 


INDEX 


Lotbiniere,  306. 
Lothrop,  15. 

Maine  Historical  Society,  4. 

Manifesto,  36,  130. 

Mansfield,  16. 

Manier,  66,  117. 

Martin,  280. 

Maroux,  242. 

Massachusetts  Archives,  4. 

Massachusetts  Committee,  17. 

Maxwell,  311. 

Maynard,  66,  117. 

Maybin,  286. 

McAlister,  Lieutenant,  317. 

McClean,  Captain,  317. 

McClelland,  117,  118,  139. 

McCobb,  32,  48,  58,  83,  85,  90,  94,  334. 

McCormick,  46. 

McCoy,  323. 

McDougal,  248. 

McGuire,  317. 

McKenzie,  142,  317. 

McLean,  Colonel,  134, 135,  140, 154, 158, 
166,  169,  258,  272,288,  311,315,  338. 

McLeod,  230,  242. 

McPherson,  238,  239,  252,  261. 

McQuarters,  237. 

Melvin,  324. 

Merchant,  154. 

Meigs,  32,  48,  51,  62,  72,  80,  92, 100,  136, 
173,  226,  230,  234,  241,  246,  256,  315, 
324. 

Montgomery,  2,  4,  6,  11,  131,  133,  175 
186-189,  195,  197,  201,  203,  205-7,  210', 
212  ;  plan  assault,  216-222  ;  leads  his 
men,  225;  death,  239;  burial,  260; 
dog,  261. 

Montgomery,  Thomas,  186. 

Montreal,  2,  8, 11,  15,  17,  175,  300,  301. 

Moodie,  Lieutenant,  317. 

Morgan,  30,  31,  47,  54,  60,  72,  79,  81,  92, 
111,  142,  151,  152,  169,  182,  189,  212, 
221,  226,  229,  230-234,  241,  242,  246, 
248,  250,  251,  256,  277,  317,  331. 


Morison,  81,  119,  138,  327. 
Murray,  323. 

Nairne,  245,  311. 

Natanis,  47,  63,  67,  77,  127,  129,  138, 

336. 

Newburyport  Monument,  320. 
New  York  Historical  Society,  2. 
Nichols,  243,  317. 
Niverville,  175. 
Noble,  224. 
Norridgewock,  54. 

Oakman,  44. 
Ogden,  35,  184,  188,  243. 
Oswald,  35,  96,  224,  317,  335. 
Owen,  242,  329. 

Parker,  John,  25. 

Parker,  Jordan,  41. 

Parole,  316. 

Parsons,  40. 

Paterson,  304. 

Pennsylvania  Archives,  4,  315,  318. 

Pierce,  326. 

Poor,  304. 

Porter,  269. 

Porterfield,  Charles,  35,  232,   243,  317, 

335. 

Porterfield,  G.  A.,  4,  325. 
Portneuf,  24. 
Prentice,  259. 
Prescott,  177. 
Price,  8,  204,  211. 

Quebec,  2,  3,  5,  11,  15,  27,  65,  152,  153- 
167,  172,  175,  191-197,  214,  215,  258, 
267,  275,  295,  307-309. 

Quebec  Act,  8. 

Rasle,  54. 
Reed,  4. 

Reed,  General,  4. 
Relics,  339-343. 
Retreat,  310,  313. 


INDEX 


371 


Rhode    Island    Historical   Society,   2, 

325. 

Rigaudville,  169,  262. 
Ritzema,  327. 
Robichaud,  129. 
Roper,  326. 

Sabattis,  66,  67,  77,  127,  142,  243,  336. 

Savage,  140. 

Scott,  32. 

Schuyler,  4,  11,  36,  97,  304. 

Scurvy,  276. 

Senter,  40,  44,  84,  109,  111,  118, 150, 172, 

192,  200,  326,  334. 
Shaw,  335. 
Shea,  329. 
Short,  329. 

Simpson,  117,  118,  170,  171,  313,  335. 
Singleton,  209. 
Skene,  19. 
Smith,  A.  H.,  323. 
Smith,  Captain  M.,  30,  47,  60,  98,  99, 

111,  122,  125,  168,  193,  226,  277,  313, 

331. 

Smythe,  255. 
Sparks,  4,  14. 
Spring,  35,  40,  230,  334. 
Squier,  324. 

St.  Patrick's  Day  celebration,  298. 
Stamp  Act,  8. 
Steele,  47,  63,  64,  77,  96,  125,  150,  226, 

243,  317,  335. 
Stevens,  269. 

Stocking,  88,  105,  137,  319,  327. 
Stoddard,  325. 
Stone,  2,  325. 
Sullivan,  89,  313. 


Taschereau,  131. 

Taylor,  J.  M.,  125,  243. 

Taylor,  John,  139. 

Thayer,  32,  34,  48,  71,  136, 150, 173, 190, 

197,  226,  232,  243,  287,  325,  332. 
Tisdale,  243. 
Thomas,  Ensign,  125. 
Thomas,  General,  305,  307,  310-11,  313. 
Thompson,  James,  260,  262,  329. 
Topham,  James  G.,  4,  325. 
Topham,  John,  32,  48,  71,  150,  190,  197, 

226,  243,  275,  325,  332. 
Tracy,  36. 

Voyer,  242. 

Walker,  8,  302. 

Ward,  32,  48,  100,  206,  226,  333. 

Ware,  324. 

Warner,  Jas.,  99,  139-145. 

Warner,  Jemima,  45,  99,  105,  337. 

Warner,  Michael,  139. 

Warner,  Seth,  133. 

Warren,  54. 

Washington,  4,  11,  23,  36,  146,  267,  269. 

Waterman,  15. 

Whaples,  H.  M.,  4. 

Wheelwright,  35. 

Wilde,  325. 

Williams,  158. 

Winsor,  322,  324,  325. 

Wister,  317. 

Withington,  323. 

Wolfe,  209. 

Wooster,  188,  262-3,  300,  304. 

Yale,  15,  17. 
Zedwitz,  186. 


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